Sun shines on manufacturer’s solar investment

A FOOD packaging manufacturer which supplies major names such as M&S and Sainsbury’s has invested £300,000 on 1,000 solar panels to save the company £1m over the next 20 years.

Proseal, based on Adlington Business Park in Cheshire, a producer of machines which save 92% of power when packaging food, was contacted by Les Hattersley of neighbouring business Green Energy Commercial about the benefits of solar power.

Stephen Malone, co-founder of Proseal, which employs 230 people on the site near Poynton, said: “We had looked into solar a while ago, but it was Les knocking on the door that spurred us on and we simply asked him for a quote.

“Generating cost savings is important for any business, but today customers are also looking more closely at their suppliers’ green credentials – and as a major consumer of electricity we saw that we could satisfy both these criteria by installing solar panels.”

Mr Malone, who alongside co-founder Robert Hargreaves steered Proseal to a turnover of £30m last year, said: “We supply throughout the world – anywhere where people are eating packaged food – making machines that put the seals onto food trays for many major names such as Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s in Europe and Safeway in the USA. Our machines are designed to produce the least amount of packaging to keep the food fresh and in prime quality for consumption.

“Minimising carbon footprint is important for both us and our customers. Over the years therefore we have worked to reduce the amount of power required in our machines while still ensuring the integrity of the seal and the quality of the product. Machines in our industry used full pneumatic equipment in the past, but we have developed a machine that doesn’t require that and the saving in power is 92%.

“Now thanks to Green Energy Commercial we are also able to make a significant reduction in our own carbon footprint at our factory, as well as valuable cost savings in our energy bills.”

Neil Banks, a director of Green Energy Commercial, said: “Solar really is the future for commercial premises and we are already rolling out lots of free fit for companies or sports clubs who just want to reduce their costs.”

Bowdon Rugby Club in Timperley, south Manchester, is one such sporting club which is benefiting from the free solar panels provided by the company.