Willerby installs Biomass boiler alongside solar panels

5 min read time

As our 75 year anniversary approaches, Willerby is continuing to enhance its sustainability credentials, with the recent addition of several eco-friendly innovations.

With sustainable practices high on our agenda, Willerby is investing £1.25 million to enhance our drive to be a green and responsible business.

As part of the investment, we have installed two 1MW biomass boilers in our factory this month - enough to provide heat and hot water to 66 domestic homes. The heat generated by the boilers will be used to heat our 24,000m² production facility at 1251 Hedon Road, replacing the conventional warm air heating system and reducing our use of fossil fuel; saving 1000 tonne of CO² in gas reduction alone. Furthermore, we will be using wood offcuts from our production processes to run the biomass boilers. The waste product will be converted to pellets, onsite, preventing 840 wagon trips that have, historically, been required annually to take away this waste, meaning our efforts will also benefit the wider Humber region environmentally.

We were delighted to have Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle, attend our headquarters on Hedon Rd to officially open our biomass plant. Emma supported and campaigned for the holiday home industry during lockdown, which helped us get back up and running.

Working in partnership with Hull City Council, part of the investment will also see Willerby introduce a new fleet of electric bikes, which will allow our staff to cycle between our two Hull sites in an environmentally friendly manner, rather than jumping in the car. As part of an initial training process, more than 70 staff will be taught the basics in cycle safety, with a mixture of both on and off-road cycling, as well as other skills such as team communication and road observation.

Finally, in installing solar panels to our showground by the end of the year, Willerby will be adding yet another means of sourcing renewable energy across our site.

Peter Munk, CEO at Willerby, said: “Willerby has called this region home for almost 75 years and we remain as proud as ever to be a part of the thriving business community here.

“We’re truly committed to the Humber region and its ongoing sustainability efforts. The decision to shift towards biomass energy also further promotes our green credentials, as it massively reduces our reliance on fossil fuels.

“The bio-bikes in particular are a fun way of incorporating something different for us as a business. We’re delighted to have Hull City Council alongside us for that part of our eco journey too.”