Birmingham Energy Savers Gets Official Launch
Early beneficiaries of the landmark Birmingham Energy Savers (BES) scheme will be giving testimony of how the innovative scheme is already working to make the Second City a better place to live at its official launch this Friday (1st February 2013) in The Banqueting Suite at The Council House, Birmingham, between 1030am - 330pm.

30th January 2013
Locals plucked from long-term unemployment, residents that are already enjoying warmer homes and lower energy bills will join representatives of Birmingham City Council, who originated the scheme, and its delivery partner Carillion Energy Services (CES) to chart BES' progress.

Cabinet members, Councillors James McKay (Green, Safe and Smart City) and John Cotton (Social Cohesion and Equalities) will join CES' Director John Swinney to explain the relevance of the scheme to the local economy and its environmental benefits. Newly-employed Jay McBean and Karen Keeley will be among those sharing the difference BES has already made to their lives.


BES aims to stimulate the saving of money, energy and carbon across schools, businesses and up to 60,000 City households and help 26,000 homes out of fuel poverty.

It is the first example of a local authority delivering the Government's Green Deal, through which the cost of carrying energy efficient measures will be recovered in installments via the occupants'/ owners' energy suppliers.

Local residents - tenants and owner/ occupiers - as well as businesses are being urged to sign up for an assessment to discover whether their home or office is eligible for a range of measures to improve energy efficiency and reduce their bills.

 "...to date we have received over 1150 calls to our call centre and completed over 200 energy assessments..."


- Chris Hall, Carillion's Account Director for Birmingham Energy Savers


BES' Account Director Chris Hall, says "We have committed to create and sustain at least 360 jobs in the area and to help 600 people from priority groups into placements, training and work, many through our own investment and skills training but also by encouraging our business partners to invest locally in a range of new green energy facilities".

Potential employees have been engaged through a dedicated recruitment programme and a series of businesses and community organizations have been engaged to help publicise BES amongst those most likely to benefit from its offerings.

Through BES, 10 Green Deal Assessors have been appointed, half of which were unemployed or at risk of redundancy. A further 10 customer service advisors and 5 planning schedulers have been added to the growing team at BES as word continues to spread of its potential benefits.

These were selected from a pool of forty applicants that were each given three days of pre-employment training. Those appointed have been accredited a further training, bringing BES' ongoing training provision to the equivalent of 270 days. In total, 36 people have been recruited directly to BES so far, 20 were unemployed and nine were in jobs at risk.

Chris continues: "To date we have received over 1150 calls to our call centre and completed over 200 energy assessments, with a further 200 assessments booked. This shows how much interest there is in Birmingham even before we have officially launched or work on any mass publicity."

The official launch of Birmingham Energy Savers will take place this Friday (1st February 2013) in The Banqueting Suite at The Council House, Birmingham, between 1030am - 330pm.

Those interested in becoming a Birmingham Energy Saver or encouraging others to do so, can call 0800 917 9772 or email birminghamenergysavers@carillionplc.com.

Media representatives interested in attending or receiving more details can contact:-

  • Kris Kowalewski, Press & PR Manager at Birmingham City Council, on telephone 0121 303 3621 or 07920 750 008 or kris.kowalewski@birmingham.gov.uk
  • Veron Graham, BES' Marketing & Communications Executive, on telephone 07891 568 592 or veron.graham@carillionplc.com


About Carillion


Carillion is one of the UK's leading support services companies with a substantial portfolio of Public Private Partnership projects and extensive construction capabilities.  The Group has annual revenue of around £5 billion, employs around 45,000 people and operates across the UK, the Middle East and Canada.


The Group has four business segments:


For more information:

Rik Kendall, Media Relations Manager, Carillion +44 (0)191 245 8342

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