Making Energy Efficiency Viable for Links Signs & Graphics

There are any number of ways to improve the energy efficiency of your Blackpool business. But if your building is old and energy inefficient, what impact could they make to you? Which would deliver the fastest payback? And what help might be available to support the investment?

To find out, Links Signs & Graphics asked Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy.

Even if you don’t know Links Signs & Graphics, you know their work. Although their large format print and signage is prominent across town (and beyond), you may be most familiar with their eye-popping work across the town’s biggest attractions: Blackpool Zoo, Blackpool Tower and Madame Tussauds are all part of the Links portfolio.

Operating from a base on Coleridge Rd, founder and MD Shaun Bennett is candid about the energy challenges of the existing setup. “We’re in an old barn-style building that was built in the fifties or sixties, he says. “The previous owners attached a factory to an existing house. The bottom of the house is now the offices for our business and our print finishing room. The top of the house is rented out. And then there’s the factory area. The offices are nice and warm but the moment you step into the factory, with its two up-and-over roller shutter doors, it can be absolutely freezing.

Discovering Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy 

A member of the Blackpool Business Leaders’ Group, Shaun heard about Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy at one of the group’s meetings. His curiosity was sufficiently piqued to get in touch.

“Megan from the Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy visited us and we explored lots of options. We’d already supplied some energy data, and at the meeting we toured the premises and discussed solar panels, our electricity supply, gas supply, the roller doors, roof insulation, heating timers, raising awareness — all sorts.

“Then we received a report with the specific recommendations they think are most appropriate for energy savings and transitioning to renewable energy, along with realistic investment costs and payback periods.”

Viable next steps

Shaun is digesting the report and investigating his next options. Some are clearly more viable than others and he’s clear that the challenge now is whether he can access the right support to bring down the payback time of any investment.

“It’s a tricky calculation to make. You want to operate more energy efficiently. You want to explore all the options and find out how much each could benefit you. But in our case we also have to look at how much investment are we prepared to make in the fabric of what is an old building.” 

Megan Tucker of sustainability consultants Adler & Allan, the experts behind Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy, is confident that there are further opportunities to explore.

“The recommendations we’ve presented so far represent an overview of the whole building,” she says. “Now we can drill down and explore the most viable options in greater detail, looking at funding or financing options. There are a number of options open to limited companies which can help make investing in our recommendations a realistic and doable proposition.”

Shaun is ready for the conversation: ““It's an ongoing journey,” he says. “If we can make the recommendations viable we’ll certainly look at implementing them.” 

Get help to decarbonise your business with Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy, support fully funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.