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£70,000 loan gives Ossy Mills the ‘green’ light

Oswaldtwistle Mills are doing their bit for the environment after installing £70k of new lighting to minimise their carbon footprint.

Over 300 energy efficient light bulbs have been fitted, saving the shopping village 47 kilowatts of electricity per hour and 26,000 kilograms of carbon and 95 kilograms of CO2 annually.

Heating controls have also been implemented throughout the Mill to reduce fuel consumption, which, along with the lighting has saved the business £30,000 per annum, cutting bills by 40%.

Boyd Hargreaves, managing director of Oswaldtwistle Mills, said: “We wanted to make our 220 year old historical Mills as environmentally friendly as possible and this meant bringing the lighting and heating up to date.

“Transforming the Mills into a green business is not only good for the environment but good for the company, as we’ve conserved resources and have cut costs considerably.

“Investing in the Mills shows how confident we are about the company and our future prospects,” he added.

A team of lighting experts from Energy Solutions Lighting spent two months replacing the old lighting in the 80,000 square feet of the Mills.

Robert Clark, from Energy Solutions Lighting, said: “Not only will the new lighting result in a huge decrease in CO2 emissions; they will cost the Mills far less to operate than their old lighting and will pay for themselves in no time at all, the predicted payback is just over two years.

“The energy efficient light bulbs produce vastly superior light quality and have proven themselves over and over again to increase companies’ efficiency and reduce operating costs,” he added.

Upgrading the Mills lighting was funded by an interest free ‘energy-efficiency’ loan from the Carbon Trust in a new initiative to help businesses become more energy efficient.

Hugh Jones, Solutions Director at the Carbon Trust, said: “We know that SMEs want to play their part in tackling climate change and reduce their energy costs at the same time, but the current economic climate is making it harder for small businesses to find sources of funding.

“Our loans of up to £200,000 will finance the ambitious projects we know SMEs want to invest in and significantly reduce both their carbon emissions and their energy bills, helping them reduce operational costs and become more competitive.

“This paves the way for companies to take on projects such as large lighting installations, boilers projects, or multiple equipment purchases such as variable speed drives with compressors and heat recovery equipment,” he added.

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£70,000 loan gives Ossy Mills the ‘green’ light