Mears Group, one of the UK’s leading housing solutions providers, has joined the National Home Decarbonisation Group (NHDG), a new coalition of businesses aimed at delivering high quality energy efficiency measures and low carbon technologies at scale across the UK’s housing stock.
The group predicts that the majority of the large-scale domestic retrofit work in the UK will be carried out by members in the coming years and believes that collaboration and continued long-term government commitment for the decarbonisation of 26 million UK homes is critical to meeting net zero targets on this scale.
Backed by the country’s leading contractors and residential retrofit specialists and with widescale delivery in mind, the NHDG’s objective will be to create a collaborative platform for its members to focus on three core areas critical to achieving the government’s ambitious targets for the sector.
The areas being addressed are growing the retrofit supply chain, advising on policy, and stimulating innovation – all of which will underpin support for households during the on-going energy, cost of living, health, and climate crises.
As members, Mears Group will be operating as one of many Tier 1 contractors and energy suppliers in the group, all specialising in retrofit residential decarbonisation at scale, and will be undertaking work supporting retrofit installations for all housing tenure types, including social, owner-occupied, and private rental homes.
Mike McGowan, Head of Carbon Reduction Solutions at Mears Group, said:
“One of Mears’ primary aims is not only to help lead the charge against carbon emissions through our retrofit works, but also to ultimately reduce fuel stress for residents too, whilst improving homes and communities.”
Richard Hughes, Partnership Development Director added:
“We’re delighted to have a seat at the table alongside other leading retrofit contractors and look forward to sharing best practice and driving forward high-quality energy efficient measures at scale across the UK.
“NHDG will spearhead the charge for improvements in skills and innovation, including the digitalisation of retrofit, increased off-site solutions, and the development of finance solutions to support the decarbonisation of the UK’s housing stock. This will help create a strong, more efficient industry with robust solutions for the fast-growing demand in the sector.”
Derek Horrocks, chair of the National Home Decarbonisation Group, said:
“We believe that central and devolved governments need to hear a strong, positive message from experienced industry contractors and stakeholders, confidently confirming the ability of the supply chain to deliver on current and ambitious future targets. The industry has seen the commitment to retrofit projects diluted or under-delivered in the past. However, as the need to decarbonise continues to increase, we have seen commitments ramp up significantly with £6.6 billion of government investment over the current parliament, and a further £6 billion pledged between 2025 and 2028 for the sector.
“Our links across government and industry are already robust, and the creation of the group and its combined membership will put us in a prime position to move forward with government as one voice on one mission.”
The NHDG is working closely with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), devolved nation governments, key sector stakeholders, and has been founded through the National Insulation Association (NIA), a long-standing trade association with its members already delivering large-scale, PAS:2035 compliant installations funded by various government schemes – such as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).
