Punch Taverns, the Burton based pub group, has developed an ambitious plan to reduce its carbon footprint by 17% before the end of 2010. The group turned to Powerstar to demonstrate whether voltage optimisation should form a key aspect of its carbon reduction campaign. As a result a programme is now underway to install Powerstar voltage optimisation in 120 of Punch’s UK sites.

Punch is one of the UK’s leading pub companies with a portfolio of over 7,000 pubs across its leased and managed estates. Punch’s aspiration is to be the pre-eminent pub group in the UK. The group takes its carbon management responsibility extremely seriously and has introduced a low carbon, energy efficiency support centre in Burton-upon-Trent.

In conjunction with the Carbon Trust, Punch Taverns developed a carbon strategy with an ambitious aim to reduce its carbon footprint by 17% before the end of 2010. The carbon campaign is a major step forward for the chain which aims to empower individual pub managers to take green issues seriously.
Powerstar were challenged to demonstrate whether voltage optimisation would achieve sufficient savings in energy consumption and show that the resultant reduction in carbon emissions would make a positive and cost efficient contribution to the group’s carbon strategy.

Powerstar was commissioned to provide voltage optimisation in 120 of Punch’s sites nationwide. A two-year installation programme commenced in March 2010. Powerstar will work in conjunction with Punch’s investment in energy saving solutions in its pubs that includes improved insulation, better boilers, heating controls and low energy lighting.

Performance results from the initial installations show average savings of between 15 to 18% in energy consumption at each site. Powerstar were also able to work flexibly with Punch to ensure that the units were installed with no disruption to the operations at each pub site. The installation schedules were worked around business demands and as manufacturers of the equipment Powerstar were able to tailor the units specifically for each site, taking into account any size and location restrictions before supplying the ideal solution for each individual site. The success to date of the carbon reduction campaign has seen Punch Taverns rated in the top 40 of the newly launched FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy Index Series.

Rachel King Carbon Manager at Punch Taverns said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working in partnership with Powerstar. We have placed a huge emphasis on effective carbon management across our 7,100 leased and managed pubs and at our low carbon, energy efficient support centre in Burton-upon-Trent. Our carbon strategy comprises a wide range of green initiatives and award winning training programmes to ensure that we are all behind our key aim to give something back to our environment through minimising waste, recycling, reducing energy wastage and ensuring our employees, pub teams and licensee partners all understand both the business and ecological benefits to effective carbon management. Powerstar helps us achieve this reduction of energy waste. We are committed to continuing our carbon reduction campaign and benchmarking activity like this is a great opportunity for us to challenge ourselves further with even more stretching objectives and comparisons.”