The outlook is sunny for a young North Wales businessman whose renewable energy company has mushroomed into a million pound business in two years.
Gareth Jones, from Llandudno, Managing Director of Carbon Zero UK, has been named Business Person of the Year at the inaugural Free2Network Awards at the prestigious Quay Hotel and Spa at Deganwy.
The St Asaph-based company specialises in the installation of renewable energy systems for homes and businesses and since it was launched in September 2009 it has seen its turnover grow to a projected £1.1 million this year.
Gareth, 29, from Llandudno, the youngest ever President of the Federation of Master Builders and currently Chairman of the North Wales branch, was presented with his award by Tansy Rogerson, Business Development Manager for the sponsors, the Quay Hotel.
He said: “I am delighted to have won this important award. We are a young company and we operating in a relatively new field and this is recognition for the way we operate and the high standards we set.
“Renewable energy is a very exciting area to be working in with new developments taking place all the time and it is something that is going to be increasingly important in the construction industry in the years to come.
“Solar power is currently the most popular form of renewable energy for both domestic and commercial properties but increasingly small-scale wind power, biomass energy and air and ground source heating will become more common.”
Tansy Rogerson, of the Quay Hotel, said: “We’re delighted that Gareth has won. He has worked exceptionally hard and has already achieved an awful lot.
“The standard of entries was exceptionally high and it was a massively successful evening and Gareth was a fitting winner of the award.”
Carbon Zero has already been involved in a number of prestige contracts including providing solar power for the new Media Centre at Glyndwr University at Wrexham and a current project to install solar panels at a major hospital in Lancashire.
They have also put in rainwater harvesting systems at two Vale of Clwyd village halls and a suntracker solar system at a farm near Macclesfield.
The awards were organised by Nina Sardar, of business networking organisation Free2Network which organises over 100 networking events annually across North Wales and Cheshire.
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 he was runner-up in the Daily Post Achievement Wales Awards for business person of the year last 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.”
