Solar panel funding from Lloyds Bank helps ANT Industries shine

A North Warwickshire manufacturer of precision-engineered aerospace components is reducing its emissions and energy usage with the installation of 13,000 sq ft of solar panels, supported by funding from Lloyds Bank.

ANT Industries manufactures and assembles complex components for the aerospace and power generation industries, with customers including Rolls-Royce, Siemens, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and ITP Aero.

As part of its plans to increase its green credentials, new panels capable of producing 120 kilowatts of electricity each hour will be installed at the firm’s third and newest factory in Atherstone.

The new system will provide almost a third of its energy requirement and reduce its CO₂ emissions by 23.2 tonnes per year.

The solar panels will be funded via Lloyds Bank’s Clean Growth Financing Initiative, which provides customers with access to discounted lending for green purposes, and a grant from the Coventry and Warwickshire Green Business Programme.

The business, which marks its 50^th anniversary this year, forecasts a turnover of £8.3m for 2022. It employs 63 staff and plans to hire another ten people over the next 12 months.

Shaun Rowley, managing director of ANT Industries, said: “The support we’ve received from Lloyds Bank is helping us to build back better after the pandemic and invest in our future. It is allowing us to introduce renewable energy technology that will not only reduce our emissions, but also help counteract the financial burden of rising energy costs.

“Becoming 100 per cent self-sufficient is a significant part of our growth plan and we eventually hope to fit solar panels on all three of our factory buildings. It’s really important we start to think of other ways to reduce our energy usage as we see sustainability as a long-term solution to safeguarding the business. Next in our plan is to improve our insulation, invest in more efficient equipment, and alter our shift patterns to reduce our carbon footprint and support the region on the road to Net Zero.”

Phil Davies, relationship director, SME banking at Lloyds Bank, said: “Over the past 50 years, ANT Industries has built a reputation as an expert in its field and can count many leading global businesses among its customers. The business is now focused on the future, with investments in green technology and digitalisation, which will set it in good stead as it looks towards continued growth."