Head of Portfolio Management, James Wakelin, discusses Stenprop’s first steps into creating a more sustainable portfolio.
Sustainable investment and management are becoming an increasingly important part of the decision-making process but in many instances economics and social responsibility don’t always align. As we focus on how to manage our portfolio more sustainable, a natural starting point is the provision of energy to our customers from green sources, with solar panels being the most mature source. Even here, the economics of solar investment are likely to become more challenging following the end to feed-in tariffs in March this year.
“We believe this will enable us to provide a cleaner energy solution to our customers and in many cases generating cost savings for them.”
We made the first strides into developing our sustainable agenda by installing solar panels at one of our units on Compass Industrial Estate in Liverpool. Working in partnership with customers, Solen Energy and Genfit, specialists in this area, the initial installation is part of a targeted programme of rolling out solar panels across our portfolio. We believe this will enable us to provide a cleaner energy solution to our customers and in many cases generating cost savings for them. The panels are relatively easy to install and unobtrusive, installation taking place while customers continue their day-to-day business activities.
The provision of additional services to our customers is a key growth area for our business. We see a significant opportunity to develop complementary services that will provide our customers with a better and more efficient working environment. The ability to do this in conjunction with the customers themselves enables us to forge stronger alliances. Having in excess of 800 customers across our Industrial business, mostly SMEs, there is plenty of scope for this, with benefits for both parties in doing so.
