Barton Storage Systems

Barton Storage Systems is a trade only manufacturer and supplier of storage, materials handling and access equipment with a nationwide distributor network across the UK. Following initial engagement with Wolverhampton City Council through the AIM for GOLD growth Programme the company were introduced to the UKSPF decarbonisation programme – and were particularly interested in reducing energy costs and carbon emissions.

Client Summary

In the late 80's there was an MBO which bought out parts of the shares from Caparo Industries.

In 1999 the business was owned by John Williams Holdings, a very large injection moulding operation producing for the likes of Dyson. In 2003 MD, Dan Rodbourne and two other co-directors created an MBO to buy all shares from John Williams Holdings,

From March 2021 Barton has entered a new growth phase scaling up the business with the ambition to double the annual revenues in the next 5 years.

The company have already participated in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Birmingham University to engage a qualified graduate to help the business improve competitiveness and productivity through better use of knowledge, technology, and skills.

Managing Director, Dan Rodbourne, commented, “Phase 1 of the project is for the graduate to develop new management, quality improvement, market analysis and digital strategies to transform business operations and develop an enterprise IT architecture for Barton to support data-driven decision making. Adding new technology allows us to bring more services in-house, facilitating upgrades to major reports from the system to facilitate automation for speed and accuracy as well as enabling digital transformation. Introducing better systems and tools will also help the business to improve customer relations and business growth”.

Following initial engagement with Wolverhampton City Council through the AIM for GOLD growth Programme the company were introduced to the UKSPF decarbonisation programme – and were particularly interested in reducing energy costs and carbon emissions. The first step in this was a free energy assessment by environmental consultants Pro-Enviro which was carried out at the end of 2023. The comprehensive report identified a number of ways in which the company reduce emissions and costs – including annual savings of £2,440 through replacing the kerosene boiler heating with an ASHP based system (Air Conditioning unit)

Currently the business is heated by a Potterton kerosene boiler fired central heating system. The heat is distributed in the rooms via perimeter convection heaters built into the wall and the skirting. A more energy efficient and lower carbon alternative would be to use an air source heat pump-based system (ASHP) – air to air sometimes called ‘aircon’. This would achieve substantial energy savings of the order of 80% through a combination of more efficient heat generation and improved controls allowing individual room temperature control and timing.

Dan added, “The impact of the investment of replacing the old kerosene boiler system would have an extreme beneficial impact for the business. It would significantly improve day to day working within the business with a clear improvement in staff wellbeing and morale. Overheads would be reduced allowing the business to invest into operational delivery including the continued commitment of our energy and water usage reductions goals of 15% by 2026”.

Overall the company could achieve annual financial savings of over £5,400 and reduce Co2e by 13 tonnes by implementing the recommendations within the Pro-enviro report. In summary, implementing the recommendations could improve staff thermal comfort, reduce annual carbon emissions by 72%, minimise exposure to any electricity and fuel price increases, and put the business on a path to zero carbon by eliminating the bulk of fossil fuel use at the site.

Whilst the total cost of investing in the air source heat pump-based system was just under £30,000 Dan worked with the Business Development team at Wolverhampton City Council to secure a 50% grant towards the costs through the UKSPF Net Zero Grant Programme.