Blackpool international lighting specialist aims to go green

Chelsom, which designs and manufactures industrial lighting for the global leisure sector, is working with UCLan’s Making Carbon Work (MaCaW) project to lower its carbon and meet its green goals.

The Blackpool company, which holds The Queen’s Award for Enterprise, works with major hotel and cruise ship chains including Hilton, Accor, Royal Caribbean and Disney.

Employing 65 staff, the family company is growing quickly achieving a 59 per cent increase in international sales since 2017.

This growth has also meant a growing carbon footprint, and managing director, Will Chelsom sought specialist support to make the company more environmentally friendly.

Will worked with MaCaW, whose energy auditors assessed the potential ways Chelsom could reduce emissions and save money on bills.

The free assessment, available to all Lancashire SMEs, included an audit of the company’s current carbon output and potential improvements, leaving Will with a list of recommended actions.

These included installing solar panels, improving thermostats and timers for the main heater and converting on-site lighting to LEDs. Once implemented, the actions would offset the firm’s carbon output by nearly 35 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and save more than £10,000 per year on energy costs.

Will said: “The saving is about more than just money. We are trying to expand our horizons as a greener company and MaCaW have been helping us move from an idea to actual plans.

“By taking strides to reduce our own emissions we can explain to our clients that the carbon footprint throughout the supply chain is lower with us when we bid for work.”

Mark Nelson. business engagement officer at MaCaW said: “Chelsom’s approach to saving energy is becoming more and more common. Business owners can have a variety of different drivers for reducing their energy consumption.

“MaCaW is able to quickly and safely assess the potential impact that energy saving measures could have on a company.”

The MaCaW project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund.