Precision engineering company flying high

Cllr O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs & Regeneration (front) Amy Skelhon and Graham Harris, Harris RCS, (back)

A family owned Coventry business has benefited from a grant to make their premises more

eco-friendly and save them money on bills.

Thanks to a £8,500 grant provided by the Coventry and Warwickshire Green Business

Programme which is partly funded by the ERDF and being delivered by Coventry City

Council, the family-owned business managed by Graham Harris and Deborah Walters has invested £28k in a series of measures to achieve energy efficiency savings at their premises.

The manufacturing company of aviation and commercial machined parts, has been based in the same unit for over 40 years and the building was in need of updating. Graham and Deborah decided to invest £28k to bring the building up to scratch and were successful in obtaining the Green Business Grant towards this.

Graham said: “We occupy an ageing factory unit with the energy inefficiencies associated with it. The funding we have received has addressed some major issues which has resulted in significant cost savings on our energy bills. This has enabled us to retain a fixed pricing strategy for our customers worldwide as well as helped us achieve a moral and ethical green stance alongside improving the working environment for our staff. “

Since the improvements, Harris RCS has seen their electricity and gas consumption drop by

60% and is helping to reduce 31 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The measures have

included cutting edge sensor controlled LED lighting throughout, the construction of an

insulated internal wall to minimise heat loss and replacing all external steel security doors

with new insulated doors and a fast action roller shutter door.

Cllr O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs & Regeneration at Coventry City Council said: “Taking

a sustainable approach to energy consumption is a change many companies will have to make sooner or later – and often all they need is a bit of support to help them. That’s where the Green Business Team comes in – they provide free energy audits and grants enabling businesses to make investments that are good for them and good for the environment. It’s a win, win really.”

Graham added: “The payback from our investment will only take 2-3 years and I would

encourage all local small to medium sized businesses to get on board as the whole process is really quick and why wouldn’t you want to reduce your energy costs.”

If you own or manage a business of 250 people or less in Coventry and Warwickshire and

are interested in finding out more about the Green Business Programme, visit

www.coventry.gov.uk/greenbusiness

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