AWARDS
SPONSORED AND SHORTLISTED BY HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS MIDDLESBROUGH
NET ZERO AWARD
Winners – Lee and Kim Gatley-Hall of Consult Net Zero with Laura Telford, left, general manager of category sponsor Holiday Inn Express Middlesbrough.
WINNER
CONSULT NET ZERO
A married couple’ s passion for helping people out of fuel poverty earned them two prizes at the Tees Business Awards 2026 – including the Net Zero title.
When Lee and Kim Gatley-Hall set up Consult Net Zero, they wanted to make a real difference in the retrofit sector – where homes are upgraded to be more energy efficient and cheaper to live in.
Their Teesside-based consultancy, which is dedicated to delivering highquality, cost-effective retrofit projects, has already helped secure £ 44m to upgrade more than 16,000 local homes.
And now they’ re double award-winners, having won the Net Zero AND Innovation categories. But the couple admit that when they go home at night, they can rarely switch off – and with good reason.
Kim explained:“ Retrofit is about helping people in fuel poverty, so why would you want to switch off from that, especially in the area you’ re from?”
And for Lee, it’ s a passion fuelled close to home, having grown up in social housing in Port Clarence.
He explained:“ I’ ve lived it, so now I’ m on the other side, trying to make a difference.”
Consult Net Zero began two years ago while the couple were working for a company looking after housing retrofit programmes for North Yorkshire County Council.
Lee – who said he was“ shocked and humbled” to win the award – told Tees Business:“ There was tons of work we physically couldn’ t service and as Kim was qualified as a surveyor, we decided to set the business up.
“ We then got a place on the Tees Valley Labs support programme, which was absolutely crucial, and that was the catalyst for us to leave full-time employment and chase it together.”
Run by Lee and Kim but with an“ army of subcontractors”, most of Consult Net Zero’ s work is deliberately close to home.
And reflecting on the past two years, Lee admits:“ When I sit back and think about it, we’ ve done a lot in a short space of time. We’ ve brought a lot of cash and funding here to the Tees Valley.
“ Now it’ s on to the next projects. We’ ve got a couple running at the moment, so we’ ll crack on with those and see where it takes us.”
FINALIST
EASTGATE ENGINEERING
Through its involvement in major offshore wind, biomass, energy-from-waste and battery-energy-storage projects, including Dogger Bank, Hornsea 2, Inch Cape OTM, Port Clarence Renewable Energy Plant and Wilton BESS, Eastgate integrates sustainable practices across engineering, construction, commissioning and maintenance, while investing heavily in its people through training, leadership development and environmental awareness.
Backed by ISO 14001 accreditation and a strong commitment to responsible project delivery, Eastgate – with its head office on Teesdale Business Park – shows how regional engineering expertise can drive environmental progress, support economic growth and contribute to national net zero ambitions.
FINALIST X-HEAT
As a leading innovator in the world of commercial space heating, X-Heat’ s Middlesbrough-based team is passionate about reducing the carbon footprint of commercial premises worldwide.
Since an idea hatched back in 2018, X-Heat has invented a range of commercial space heaters that can operate using gas, LPG or hydrogen, are flameless and flueless, and reduce gas consumption by up to 60 %, with zero carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide emissions.
And with a UK patent approved and a European patent pending, X-Heat is confident its innovative range of products will soon be at the forefront of commercial heating solutions – cutting carbon emissions and running costs, while reinforcing Teesside’ s place on the net zero map.
SPONSOR’ S REFLECTIONS:
Laura Telford, Holiday Inn Express Middlesbrough cluster general manager:“ We’ re proud to sponsor the Tees Business Net Zero Award for the second year running, as it reflects our commitment to supporting organisations that are driving meaningful environmental change across Teesside.
“ As a business rooted in the heart of the community, we believe it’ s important to champion those who are working hard to reduce their carbon footprint, innovate sustainably and contribute to a cleaner, greener future for our region.
“ Celebrating these achievements not only aligns with our own sustainability journey but also helps inspire others to take positive action.”
The voice of business in the Tees region | 135