The UK electrical sector charts massive growth with 410% increase in trading businesses since 2010, according to this comment piece from Swinton Business, part of insurance broker Swinton Group
Swinton Business, part of insurance broker Swinton Group, has identified extraordinary growth in the electrical industry, largely due to advancement in technology and improved government policy.
According to Swinton Business’ Trends Report, which offers a detailed breakdown of business trends by industry and region, the number of companies operating in the electricity sector grew by 410% between 2010 and 2017. This includes power generation, transmission and distribution businesses.
One of the main reasons behind this rapid growth is the introduction of government schemes that promote renewable energy, such as the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) and Renewable Obligation (RO).
Such schemes have encouraged over one million home and business owners in the UK to install solar panels and wind turbines on their premises or land, allowing them to generate their own supply of low-carbon energy. By doing this, they benefit from a fixed tariff for an agreed amount of time following installation, plus they can also sell back any electricity they don’t use to their supplier.
The popularity of these schemes has resulted in an increase in the number of companies creating, supplying and installing the renewable technology required to meet the demand.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the report found that Greater London has seen the biggest surge in electricity supply businesses overall. Companies in this sector have grown by 904%, which is 587% more than the rest of the UK. This is due to continual growth in the capital, meaning the network’s capacity has had to expand. In the South London Borough of Southwark specifically, the number of businesses has increased from five to 90, with development being seen in more futuristic areas such as electric car charging points.
London’s impressive growth has been followed by a rise of 388% in the South West and 308% in the East Midlands, where extra demand in the region has resulted in the number of electricity generation businesses growing from 65 to 265. Further north, Scotland has seen a 266% increase in electricity supply companies and is leading by example in renewable energy.
Meanwhile, the South East’s overall growth of 264% has been driven by the exponential rise seen in West Berkshire. Here, the number of electricity generation, transmission and distribution businesses has grown by 1,800%, from 5 to 95.
Similarly, in Yorkshire and the Humber, the overall increase of 184% in electricity supply businesses has been fuelled by large-scale developments in the East Riding of Yorkshire, where there has been a huge growth of 900%.
In the North East, numerous large wind turbines have been installed off the Northumberland coast – this has resulted in a 107% increase in electricity supply companies in the area.
Looking to the future, the battery-storage market is expected to see further growth. This will allow home and business owners to store the electricity they generate for the first time.
1 https://www.swinton.co.uk/business/businesstrends/industries/electrical/
Richard Beaven
Distribution Director
Swinton Business
Tel: +44 (0)800 024 1719
