Willmott Dixon Energy Services becomes operational from the start of 2012 and will scale up Willmott Dixon’s energy efficiency offering in several key markets. It is the natural progression for a company that already has a substantial in-house skill set in its Re-Thinking sustainability business and Jonathon Porritt as a non-executive director on the main board.

The launch comes after the Government reiterated its commitment to the Green Deal, which will create a market that will require over £80 billion of investment in the next ten years.

Also, the Government’s recent Energy Statement also included an additional £200 million of funding to boost early Green Deal take-up and Willmott Dixon’s new company will bring together landlords, investors and suppliers to develop Green Deal funding streams and deliver the upgrade work on homes and non-domestic properties.

Other areas of expertise that Willmott Dixon Energy Services will provide include tackling the commercial market for low carbon retrofit, specifying best value use of renewable technology to deliver low cost energy, providing a strategic proposition to energy efficiency and creating a defined process to measure year-on-year energy performance in all types of property from homes to large offices.

The creation of the new company comes as the rising cost of energy for both residential and corporate property is seeing more and more organisations look at long-term solutions to reduce financial exposure to energy price rises and carbon taxes, both current and future.

This year Willmott Dixon has been involved in a number of projects that point to the growing importance of efficient energy use. These include completing one of the UK’s first Green Deal pilot projects, in Cambridgeshire, constructing the country’s first zero carbon ‘in use’ school, for Islington Council, and also delivering Morrisons’ exemplar energy efficient supermarket in Peterborough. This saw the store become the first in Europe to be entirely lit by LED lighting, which is virtually maintenance free for the first 50,000 hours, as well as being one of the first where the refrigeration system does not contain any harmful hydrofluorocarbons.

Rob Lambe will be become managing director at Willmott Dixon Energy Services, reporting to Willmott Dixon Support Services divisional CEO Chris Durkin. Rob says, “With the Green Deal launching in 2012, our Energy Services company will have the scale and knowledge to support our housing customers as they use the Green Deal to take hundreds of thousands of residents out of fuel poverty. We also see renewable energy and micro generation systems as an important part of the solution and believe photo-voltaics still provides a viable source of low cost energy despite the recent Government announcement to reduce the feed-in tariff.

“Equally important is the business sector and the growing strategic importance of tackling the impact of energy costs in corporate property.”

Willmott Dixon’s in-house sustainability company Re-Thinking will continue to provide support, guidance and management of the company’s internal low carbon goals and knowledge, while Energy Services will focus on customers’ low carbon challenges.

Chris Durkin said, “The launch of this company is a culmination of a lot of planning and measured assessment of the energy market over the coming years. It brings together our considerable skills with our ability to engage with customers in delivering the low carbon challenges they face. Building on the strength of relationships we already have with clients that are looking at energy efficiency, Willmott Dixon Energy Services will bring strategic value to meet an area that is firmly in the boardroom agenda of both public and private organisations.”