Orchard House Foods
Over the last 20 years, Orchard House Foods has grown into a multi-million pound organisation, supplying a wide range of fresh fruit products to major UK retailers. Based in Northamptonshire, the company employs around 500 staff.
Orchard House Foods has always taken its environmental impact extremely seriously. Keen to ensure the company’s manufacturing process was as energy efficient as possible, and to reflect the brand values of freshness, convenience and healthiness Steve Trewick, Operations Director, Orchard House Foods, requested an energy survey from the Carbon Trust.
The survey pinpointed energy efficiencies that could significantly reduce the organisation’s carbon emissions, while also bringing down its £500,000 annual energy bill by almost 20 per cent.
Recommendations included:
- Improve the existing energy management programme
- Ensure equipment be turned off when not in use
- Improve pipe insulation
- Review the use of compressed air on site
- Install an automatic closing system for the cargo door
Already, the majority of suggestions have been fully implemented, and the remainder are well underway.
Steve Trewick says: “The support offered by the Carbon Trust has been instrumental in delivering improved energy efficiency. The help was both professional and practical, and we look forward to a more energy efficient future as a result.” (May 2006) ^ Back to top
Williams Medical Supplies Ltd
Williams Medical Supplies Ltd is one of the largest suppliers of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals in the UK. Originally based in Kent, the organisation moved to Gwent fourteen years ago and opened a new site in 2004 where it mainly operates from a 6,700 m² warehouse.
With annual energy costs for the warehouse alone of £42,000, Williams Medical Supplies contacted the Carbon Trust for advice on improving energy management and therefore reducing both carbon emissions and energy bills.
A Carbon Trust survey of the organisation’s main site identified more than £5,500 worth of potential savings, which would also save 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Recommendations included fitting lighting and heating controls in addition to a number of low cost and no cost energy saving measures. Payback on all the specified recommendations will be achieved within three years.
Jannine Sykes, at Williams Medical Supplies said: “We were keen to improve energy management within the company, but needed advice on how to go about this. The Carbon Trust survey helped us identify where savings could be made and provided us with a straightforward list of priority actions which will enable us to improve our environmental performance, as well as reducing carbon emissions.” (August 2007) ^ Back to top
Miller UK Ltd
Northumberland based Miller UK Ltd manufactures and repairs excavator buckets and attachments for construction vehicles. Based in Cramlington, Miller UK Ltd took occupation of its site in 2003. With 250 members of staff and a building area of 20,097m2, the factory activity is concentrated into a 24 hour period from Monday to Friday, while profile cutting and repair is spread over the full seven day week.
Recommended actions from an energy survey from the Carbon Trust were to:
- Monitor monthly fuel usage
- Establish a site energy policy
- Educate staff about how their everyday activities impact on carbon emissions
- Fit lighting controls
- Upgrade existing lighting systems to low energy alternatives
The survey identified that Miller UK Ltd could potentially save around £64,706 per year and see an overall 25.5 per cent reduction in energy consumption as a result of implementing these recommendations.
Michael Corbett, Plant & Facilities Manager, said: “We were impressed with the fact that the survey was adapted to suit our specific requirements and we have now implemented 60 per cent of the suggestions. We have now achieved the ISO14001 accreditation, which has helped us demonstrate our commitment to continually improve environmental matters.” (October 2007) ^ Back to top
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