A North East solar and battery storage installer is to invest in a larger site and grow its workforce.
Washington-based AR Power, which manages a complete turnkey solution from design to installation, has invested heavily in staff and resources in the last 12 months with turnover hitting £5.5m for the year ending April 2024.
With the workforce reaching 33 and set to grow, the company – established in 2011 by husband-and-wife team Mark and Maria Dunville – is aiming to hit revenues of £10m in the next 12 months. In three years, it is hoped that turnover will exceed £30m.
The largest and longest established independent solar and battery storage installer in the North East, the firm was last year named ‘Contractor of the Year’ at the National Solar and Storage Live Awards, held in Birmingham.
Maria Dunville, finance director and co-owner, explained: “This last year has been a busy period as we focussed on planning for future growth, investing in more staff, training, and securing further accreditations, including ISO 9001:2015.
“We have done a lot of the hard work by investing in skills and equipment, all while managing the business, ensuring we continued to deliver high impact energy solutions to businesses and organisations across the north and even further afield.”
The company expanded its fleet of vehicles to 11, with four new ones acquired during the last year. The owners are now actively seeking larger premises – ideally a unit of 20-30,000 sq. ft.
The recent appointments of Luke Lobo, as technical manager, and Stephen Armstrong, as head of commercial, will help strengthen the senior leadership team.
Technical director Mark Dunville said: “Going forwards we intend to focus on competing for larger projects. We now have the senior team and greater in-house expertise including a stronger design team, which will enable us to undertake more mid to high-range solar installations.
"Our pipeline of new work looks strong as more companies and organisations see the huge benefits of generating their own energy.”
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