Heat Pumps Today

08 N E W S December | January 2023 New home for north east distributors North East-based partner companies Secon Renewables and AUK Distribution are targeting further growth and industry success with the move to a new home in Sunderland. The new head oce and warehouse, at Unit F, Colima Avenue, Sunderland SR5 3XB, is almost five-times the size of their previous base at 30,000 sq.ft and was ocially opened on Friday, October 14th, by The Rt. Hon. Jake Berry MP, Conservative Party Chairman and former Minister for the Northern Powerhouse. Secon began life as a solar thermal company in 1998 and has since diversified to become one of the biggest specialist heat pump distributors in the UK. Its product range boasts the latest in solar thermal technology alongside heat pumps, biomass ancillaries, air conditioning and under floor heating. AUK Distribution has grown to become one of the leading providers of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) products in the UK, oering solutions for almost all air conditioning and close control applications. The two businesses have worked together since 2017 and formally joined forces in 2020. Earlier this year, Secon and AUK picked up two major honours in a prestigious national industry awards competition. In a repeat of last year’s success in the Wholesaler / Distributor of the Year category at the National ACR & Heat Pump Awards, the independent judging panel recognised how an increased product oering, large stock undertaking and improved technical support across both businesses had helped customers to operate as seamlessly as possible through a very dicult trading period. There was further reason to celebrate when Secon, alongside UK Alternative Energy, won the Air Source Project of the Year award for a project at a luxury home in Lincolnshire which delivered significant saving in both operating costs and emissions. The businesses are built around trade- only webstores and a single distribution warehouse which services national sales with next-day delivery. www.aukdistribution.com www.seconrenewables.com Labour leader visits Vaillant HQ Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, visited leading boiler and heat pump manufacturer, Vaillant, HQ in Belper, to see production of its low carbon technology in action and gain a clearer view of how government and industry can work in partnership to ensure the UK can successfully transition to low carbon technologies. The tour began with the Labour leader viewing the company’s new heat pump line. He took a keen interest in the variety of new skills needed to successfully work on the new production line as well as the job opportunities created. He spent time chatting to employees who had retrained or upskilled to work on the new line and discussed what opportunities this had opened up for them. Sir Keir was interested to learn that these new skills had been developed via a partnership training programme between Vaillant and Chesterfield Technical College. He was also keen to speak with those new to the industry and went on to meet several apprentices, graduates and interns from across the business to discuss how they felt about being involved in this exciting transformational period. During the visit there was also an open discussion between Sir Keir and the Vaillant management team, regarding how government and industry can work together to develop and support a number of pathways to bridge the skills gap and to ensure that the support is there to enable the right investment in production capacity that will get the UK closer to the net zero targets set. Sir Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party, said: “The transition to low carbon technology is an opportunity to be seized; for business, the creation of jobs, the ambitions of our young people, and to achieve energy security to keep bills down. It’s been invaluable to see Vaillant’s work developing heat pumps and advances in hydrogen. “To truly grasp the potential benefits, we need innovative businesses like Vaillant, backed by a clear government mission and working in partnership. We’re at a critical juncture for the clean energy sector, which if harnessed as the opportunity it is, will bring enormous reward to the whole country. It’s been invaluable to see work underway and meet people involved in making this change possible.” www.vaillant.co.uk Left to right: Steve Keeton, Henrik Hansen, Sir Keir Starmer, Jonathan Reynolds