As part of its ongoing commitment to making the transition to a low carbon future easier, Vaillant has launched a brand-new Customer Experience Centre - which was unveiled in an official opening attended by Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Helen Whately.

Based at the company’s UK headquarters in Belper, Derbyshire, the new Customer Experience Centre will support both Vaillant and sister-brand Glow-worm, reinforcing the history of ongoing innovation right through to the latest advanced heat pump and hydrogen boiler technologies.

This latest activity follows the recent announcement of a £3 million investment to expand Vaillant’s Belper manufacturing facility to serve growing demand for its aroTHERM plus heat pumps, alongside its range of high efficiency boilers. A move that makes Vaillant one of the only UK heating appliance manufacturers to produce both high efficiency gas boilers and heat pumps, as it seeks to meet the complex decarbonisation challenge with a multi-technology approach.

Klaus Jesse, Managing Director for Vaillant Group UK and Ireland said: “As we all know, the heating sector remains on the cusp of, arguably, the biggest challenge since its inception as it looks towards the low carbon economy. Inherently for us, innovation lies at the heart of this as we continue to bring new products and services to the domestic and infrastructure markets through both the Vaillant and Glow-worm brands – but we know from talking to customers it can be difficult to keep up.

“In this vein, the new centre has been designed to provide an immersive and interactive environment, where customers can see the breadth of our extensive products first-hand, get a feel for how they work and gain a deeper understanding as to how they might meet their customers’ needs both now, and in the future. This newest addition sits perfectly alongside our network of fully equipped training centres across the country, where over 25,000 training spaces were booked in 2020, and further helps ensure heating professionals are fully equipped to diversify and maximise all new low carbon opportunities.

“As a business synonymous with customer centricity, every strategic decision we make is focused on supporting our customers to the best of our ability and we believe our Customer Experience Centre will provide a key resource as they navigate the next chapter.”

Drawing on its rich 140-plus year heritage, Vaillant is a firm advocator of the adoption of a multi-technology approach – to include hydrogen boilers, heat pumps and hybrid systems along with controls – to help homes become more energy efficient and serve the Government’s green agenda.

Alongside this, Vaillant continues to push boundaries in heating innovation. Last year saw the launch of the aroTHERM plus - one of the only heat pumps of its kind to use the natural refrigerant R290 with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of just three, while achieving higher flow temperatures of up to 75 degrees which means that domestic hot water is stored in the cylinder at a useable temperature without the need for a backup heater. This sits alongside a raft of technological breakthroughs in the field of boilers, renewables and controls – all of which will be available to view at the Customer Experience Centre.

Talking at the opening of the Customer Experience Centre, Helen Whately, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, commented: ““We have helped thousands of households and businesses transition to low-carbon heating, through schemes like our Renewable Heat Incentive, and it is great to see companies like Vaillant investing in technology to support this.”
“With carbon emissions from heating accounting for around 23% of all emissions in the UK, the industry has a vital role to play in both investment and consumer awareness as we transition to new renewable heating technologies.”