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The results, one year in
Year 1 deliberately focused on rural locations and villages, with the installer moving efficiently from area to area. Weekly project meetings kept all parties aligned, while Procure Plus’ in-house digital management platform Schemes Plus gave the team real-time visibility of progress and spend throughout delivery.
By the end of Year 1, the programme had:
• Completed 150 properties
• Installed 144 solar panels
• Installed 78 heat pumps
• Added 123 insulation measures
• Supported seven people into employment, including individuals affected by homelessness, care leavers, and exoffenders, via referral partners including Oasis Partnership and Smart Works Reading
Fairhive also used the programme to build wider community value, committing to ongoing donations and volunteering with local wildlife charities, and giving colleagues upskilling opportunities in renewables through its principal contractors.
Why it worked
Fairhive puts the programme’ s success down to a combination of factors: the decision to go to market early; detailed upfront planning that gave contractors pricing confidence; the strength of the internal team; effective collaboration with delivery partners; the flexibility to adapt as requirements evolved; and real-time visibility of progress and spend.
Cecily Church, Head of Sustainability at Fairhive, said:“ Going to market before funding was confirmed felt like a risk, but it gave our contractors and us the head start we needed to hit the ground running. Twelve months on, we’ ve not only met our Year 1 targets, we’ ve also secured funding to keep the momentum going into Year 2.”
Together, these factors have enabled Fairhive to successfully deliver Year 1 and build a strong foundation for Year 2, now underway following the award of additional funding.
Ongoing partnership with Procure Plus
Unlike previous contracts, where framework providers were typically involved only at the procurement stage, Fairhive has maintained an ongoing relationship with Procure Plus throughout delivery.
Procure Plus acted as a mediator in discussions, supported meetings, and provided a sounding board that fed into continuous improvement, including refined KPIs and stronger specifications for future tenders.
Kevin Clarke, Account Delivery Manager at Procure Plus, said:
“ What’ s made Wave 3 stand out is that Fairhive brought us in as a genuine delivery partner, not just at the procurement stage. Being able to support the team through weekly meetings and act as a sounding board has meant issues get resolved quickly, and it’ s helping shape better specs for the next round of tenders too.”
Fairhive’ s experience has shown that successful retrofit programmes depend on creating the right conditions for delivery through early procurement, strong internal capacity, and trusted partnerships while using each phase to learn and improve.
As the sector moves towards increasingly ambitious retrofit targets, carrying those lessons forward and building momentum from one programme to the next will be critical to delivering lasting change at scale.
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