SFS assists with energy self-sufficiency
30/07/2024
Though many businesses are worried about the impact of energy prices on their operations, this increased pressure drives the opportunity to review consumption and consider more sustainable options. In fact, in one recent survey of energy decision-makers at UK organisations, 61pct ranked energy security as a top three driver of energy decarbonisation. As the study notes, in many cases, capital investment is needed to support change.
This was the case for furniture manufacturer Ambic. Ambic manufactures bespoke contract furniture for global customers in a multitude of industries, including leisure, retail, marine, hospitality, pharma, medical, and more. Based in the North-East of England, the business has a reputation for making quality, robust furniture. Its manufacturing centre in County Durham uses state-of-the-art CNC machines to turn Computer Aided Designs into precision-made furniture and fittings.
Given the energy-intensive nature of manufacturing, Ambic knew that generating its own power would be key to staying competitive in the marketplace and looked into installing solar panels on the roof of its Chester le Street factory.
Originally, the company planned to make a small investment using its own capital funds. However, after getting in touch with finance broker Anglo Scottish and running the numbers, Ambic found that by increasing the size of the investment the business could become entirely self-sufficient.
Such an investment was beyond their budget, so Ambic set about trying to find the ideal financing partner for the project. Anglo Scottish gathered all the financial information and determined that Siemens Financial Services (“SFS”) would be able to provide the best solution. As a specialist financier, SFS is practised at creating solutions that consider every factor: commercial requirements, the specifications of the desired product, and its real-world application. SFS were therefore able to tailor an agreement to match Ambic’s business needs and the expected outcomes of the installation.
Taking into account Ambic’s existing energy costs, SFS supplied a financing package that spread the cost of investment over a seven-year term, and structured the arrangement so that the energy cost savings from the solar panels would cover almost the whole cost of the initial investment. As an added bonus, Ambic has been able to keep its electricity costs below prior levels all whilst servicing the new asset debt.
“Communication throughout the whole process was fantastic. Charlotte Enright at Anglo Scottish and SFS looked at what we needed and created a bespoke solution for us which met our needs entirely and made the whole process a lot easier.” explains Liam Hunt, Managing Director at Ambic.
With the new solar installation, Ambic is expecting to save £1.94 million over 25 years, and eventually run on 100pct renewable energy.
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