A former book shop boss has exchanged the dusty world of hardbacks and fiction for sunshine, wind and rain.
Dave Threadgold’s new best-sellers are solar panels and wind turbines rather than Jacky Collins and John Grisham.
The 24-year-old geography graduate has just been appointed Project Account Manager for North Wales for rapidly-growing renewable energy firm Carbon Zero UK which specialises in installing ‘green’ energy systems for homes and businesses.
The St Asaph-based company was formed in 2009 by Gareth Jones, from Llandudno, and has seen its business grow rapidly so that it has this year opened a North West regional office in Altrincham.
They are experts at harnessing sun, wind, water and even the power of the air and the earth to benefit businesses with cheap power and free water and heating.
They supply and install a range of systems from solar panels for heating to wind turbines, air and ground source heating, rainwater harvesting and biomass systems for energy and heating.
Dave, from Colwyn Bay and a former student of Eirias High School and Llandrillo College, said: “It’s a very exciting prospect and something I have been interested in for a long time.
“I studied geography at Chester University and several of the modules of my course were on renewable energy sources and I see it as a hugely important part of our future.”
It is the latest in a number of appointments made by the company which has seen a boom in enquiries and sales, particularly for solar power.
Managing Director Gareth Jones said: “Dave is only 24 but at 22 he was running two bookshops so he clearly has a wealth of managerial experience and enthusiasm to bring to the business.
“It is one of a number of appointments we are making as interest in renewable energy continues to increase.
“We are currently taking up to 30 enquiries a week for solar power alone and have scheduled nine installations already this month and there is also plenty of interest in other renewable systems such as biomass heating and rainwater harvesting
“We attended Woodfest at St Asaph and we had literally hundreds of enquiries as a result of that as well.”
Dave, whose green credentials extend to his favourite pastime, cycling, said: “I worked in bookshops in Chester to help fund my university studies and I carried on working after I graduated.
“I was in charge of two bookshops, in Chester and Llandudno, but I jumped at the chance to move into this line of work because renewable energy is clearly where the future lies.
“I am becoming very involved in a new area for us where we can install a weather station at a property which will provide information about the ability of the site to generate wind power.
“That means we can tell our clients if wind power will work for them and exactly how much electricity it will generate.”
Solar power continues to be the largest area of growth but Dave expects heating to start catching up once the government’s new Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI) kicks in.
“That will provide massive encouragement for people to go for alternative forms of heating such as biomass and air and ground source systems.
“It’s a very exciting time. Renewables are a constantly evolving field and there are new technologies coming on stream all the time and I feel my job involves giving something back to the environment.”
