A green energy pioneer from North Wales is in the running for two top awards.
Gareth Jones has been short-listed for Young Director of the Year for North Wales in the Institute of Directors Wales Awards and also nominated in the Renewable Energy Association Awards for the UK as Installer of the Year.
His Carbon Zero UK company have quadrupled their turnover in the past 12 months and found renewable energy solutions for a range of clients from a top DJ to a university.
And Gareth, 30, from Llandudno, one of North Wales’s brightest young businessmen, said: “I’m absolutely delighted. You’re always glad to be up for an award, especially when it’s someone else who has nominated you, but to be up for two is extra special.
“In the case of the Renewable Energy Association awards it’s nice to know that we have been nominated by our customers because that means they have been really pleased with what we have done for them.”
His St Asaph-based company employs ten full-time staff and up to 30 sub-contractors across North Wales and the North West.
They specialise in a complete range of renewable energy solutions including solar and wind power, air and ground-source heating, rainwater harvesting, biomass boilers, insulation and rainwater harvesting.
The company topped the £1 million turnover mark in the 2011-2012 financial year and they have fitted solar panels at Glyndwr University in Wrexham and Calderstones Hospital near Clitheroe as well as a biomass boiler for Radio Two DJ Mark Radcliffe and rainwater harvesting for a community centre in Preston.
Gareth was also recently appointed vice-chairman and chairman-elect of the Federation of Master Builders in Wales, the first ever from North Wales, and last year he was voted Business Person of the Year at the inaugural Free2Network Awards.
He launched Carbon Zero UK in 2009 and he said: “We’re delighted to be nominated for these awards. Renewable energy is a very exciting field to be in with new developments almost every day.
“We look to provide a whole range of renewable energy solutions, including solar power, wind turbines, air and ground-source heating, biomass and rainwater harvesting.
“It’s a sector where things are moving so fast and you need to be able to provide a range of solutions. Solar power might be right for one person or one business but it might not be the best option for someone else.
“Our advantage is that we can provide the solution that’s best for the client rather than trying to fit solar because that’s what we do.
“If solar isn’t the best option we can come up with a solution that is and swe have the expertise to install that as well.”
Gareth Jones is no stranger to awards having been named by Wales Business Insider magazine as one of its top 25 rising stars in 2009 and last year he was the first ever winner of the Business Person of the Year at the inaugural Free2Network Awards and was runner-up in the Daily Post Achievement Wales Awards for Business Person of the Year.
He said: “The renewables sector is just taking off so much, solar power, air and ground source heating, small scale wind turbines, rainwater harvesting and biomass boilers.
“There are government incentives for solar and for heating and by 2020 every new build will have to be self-sustaining which is very exciting and means a whole new approach to building.”
