Building a sustainable cost-efficient future for the UK Retail sector

About

Our client, a large energy consultancy, specializes in engineering and project management to enable energy and cost savings for their diverse client portfolio and is renowned as a leader in the retail sector across Europe.

Among their portfolio is a renowned retailer, Client X, with whom they handle the energy management for among many other UK retail-based clients.

They provide a comprehensive range of energy services to Client X across their UK and Ireland portfolio. These include consumption analysis, regular reporting, energy reduction project management and long-term reduction plans targeting reductions in both consumption and costs (based on different initiatives such as component changes for savings).

Situation

Our client covers around 700 sites for Client X across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. These sites are made up of active retail and grocery stores, their distribution centres and their closed and dark stores (i.e., the stores that are still owned or tenanted but not open).

The main ESG goal that Client X have is for Net Zero across their whole value chain, from stores to distribution and manufacturing, by 2040. They are currently on target for this and their incremental goals of a 55% decrease in location-based Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and the same 55% decrease in total Scope 3 GHG emissions by 2030.

Key challenges

The key challenge faced by our client when sourcing an energy management system was to find a single platform where they could provide comprehensive energy monitoring and analysis and have an integrated place to track their projects to assist the wider ESG goals of Client X.

Key People

The project team encompassed an internal group alongside contractors from outside of the organisation with a range of responsibilities including:

• Managing Director – Defined high-level scope and direction of consulting service offering.
• Principal Energy Project Manager – Responsible for overseeing project setup and implementation and working with clients to ensure all energy management and reporting needs were met.
• Energy Analyst – Maintenance of systems, data and equipment to ensure smooth performance and well-maintained system.
• FM Contractors – Integrating building and facilities systems and tasks with consumption data.

The Solution

MRI eSight Energy Management Software provided the energy consultancy business with a comprehensive solution that allowed them to gain visibility and depth in their understanding of Client X’s energy consumption. This insight was utilised for their yearly sustainability report and helped them monitor and work towards their Net Zero goals and drive cost reductions across their portfolio.

One of our client’s main strengths was the implementation of changes to aid the reduction in energy consumption – MRI eSight provided a solution for them to manage, analyse and verify the results of their projects and justify their service to their client.

Results

One specific project was the £1m retrofit of a store situated in a large shopping centre in East London.

From the initial investment of £1M, their project tracking module forecasted a 2.15 million kWh reduction per year. This equated to around £535k per year in estimated savings so our client could suggest a 1.8yr ROI for Client X behind a large consumption reduction.

In the first 12 months, a yearly energy reduction of 1.68m kWh was achieved (around 28% lower than forecasted due to factors outside of the project team’s control) and represents a yearly cost saving of £419k which grants a return on investment within 2.3 years – less than half of the project time.

Summary

MRI Software provided a clear way for our client to set, forecast, manage and verify the effectiveness and commercial viability of energy reduction projects, in a simple and clear process with MRI eSight Energy Management software. This helped justify our client’s position to Client X through demonstrable cost management and savings whilst being able to objectively track against Client X’s sustainability goals.

To find out how your retail business can save on energy costs and make progress towards sustainability goals, get in touch to book a demo here.