INSTALLERSUPPORT
A September
to remember?
What £5,000 home insulation vouchers
will mean for tradespeople, and how
savvy installers can make the most
of the new scheme next month
» RISHI SUNAK IS DUE TO
set out a £2bn grant scheme
in England for projects such as
insulation as part of a wider £3bn
plan to cut carbon emissions.
The Treasury said that under
the Green Homes Grant, the
Government will pay at least
two-thirds of the cost of home
improvements that save energy.
The scheme will launch
in September, with online
applications for recommended
energy efficiency measures, along
with details of accredited local
suppliers. Once one of these
suppliers has provided a quote
and the work is approved, the
voucher is issued.
Full details of what will be
included and the finer details
of the initiative have yet to be
announced, but Ben Dyer, CEO
and co-Founder of Powered
Now - a back-office solution for
tradespeople - is already preparing
installers and tradespeople on
what this scheme will mean for
small businesses, and how they
can start to prepare.
Clearview contacted Ben for
further comment on what these
means for fenestration businesses,
and in particular, installers…
Ben, has there been any
more information yet on
what may or may not be
included under this scheme?
The scheme covers two
broad areas. These are passive
improvements like cavity wall,
roof and under-floor insulation
and renewable heat sources from a
ground source heat pump or solar
energy.
Do we know how the
aforementioned ‘accredited
local suppliers’ will be
selected and therefore
have the chance to take
advantage of this scheme?
Accredited local suppliers must
be Trustmark or MCS registered.
Trustmark covers pretty much
the entire field trade industry
while MCS certifies low carbon
products and installations.
However, this is likely to create
a feeding frenzy for businesses
that are already registered. It is
undoubtedly true that there are
many tens of thousands of quality
businesses that aren’t registered
with either scheme, so this may
be an issue.
How can businesses start
to prepare themselves and
their teams for the scheme
should the work that they
do qualify to benefit from it?
There’s a fair amount involved
so businesses that do work in the
relevant fields and aren’t MCS or
Trustmark registered should start
the process of registering as soon
as they possibly can.
Is this an opportunity
for new installation
businesses to start up
or change the way they
work to take advantage
of the new scheme?
It’s unlikely that a start up
could get going and register
for one of these schemes in the
time available, particularly as
there’s likely to be a queue for
assessment. However with a lot of
work potentially on the horizon it
could be a good opportunity for
smaller companies to team up and
work with each other.
What advice do you
have for disheartened
businesses that have had
projects cancelled, and
suspect it may be because
homeowners are waiting
for the scheme to start?
Anyone who isn’t MCS
or Trustmark registered and
focuses on the areas that will be
subsidised should either get in
on the schemes immediately, or
probably try to focus on work
that falls outside the scheme for
a while.
Aside from the Green
Homes Grant, how can
installation businesses and
tradespeople maximise
opportunity and reap
rewards post-lockdown
and longer term?
While there is a lot of gloom
and doom, recession also creates
huge opportunity, especially for
smaller, more agile companies.
You can’t go for more than two
minutes without hearing about
someone downsizing to cut
cost, this is also happening at
pace in the installation industry.
Suddenly the larger businesses are
losing some of their advantage of
scale, this is only a good thing for
smaller companies who can adapt
and out manoeuvre their larger
competitors.
Do you have a final message
for our installers and
Clearview readers, or any
general advice given recent
events in the industry?
Really, our best advice to all
trade businesses is to do great
work and don’t try to compete
on price too much, which
undermines the ability to do
the work well. This breeds loyal
customers who will recommend
you to their friends, and that’s
always the best source of work.
www.powerednow.com
Ben Dyer of Powered Now
advises installers, and all
companies, how to Maximise
Business From Existing
Customers on page 70
CLEARVIEW-UK.COM » AUG 2020 » 61