Shropshire travel company on road to green future thanks to grant scheme

A Shropshire travel company is on the road to a greener future after installing new solar panels thanks to grant help from a scheme supported by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Longmynd Travel, based at Lea Cross near Shrewsbury, received a grant from the Marches Renewable Energy Grant Scheme (MarRE) to meet half the £9,852 cost of installing the panels at its base.

The project is expected to generate 11,352 kilowatt hours of clean, renewable energy every year regardless of the weather and save 3.15 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Project manager Adrian Marshall said the family-owned company, which operates right across the UK, could expect to recover the cost of installing the panels in just four years thanks to the grant help.

“Longmynd Travel is a really successful company, and we are delighted to have been able to help them reduce their carbon footprint and drive down their energy bills.

“The firm prides itself on providing the away team coaches for Shrewsbury Town, AFC Telford United and TNS football clubs, and with these new panels we are certain they are set to score an environmental goal all of their own.

“These are the very latest generation of panels which can still provide power on cloudy days so they will continue to work to reduce emissions and provide sustainable power 365 days a year.”

Marches LEP chief executive Gill Hamer said: “The MarRE scheme is enabling more and more companies to switch to renewable power and help protect the environment for generations to come. We are delighted to have been able to help such a successful company as Longmynd Travel through the scheme.”

Val Sheppard-Evans, of Longmynd Travel, said: “From first applying to the scheme to receiving the grant everything went very smoothly.”

The MarRE scheme is open to small and medium-sized enterprises as well as a range of other organisations across the Marches and can provide a 50 per cent grant towards the cost of installing renewable energy sources.

The scheme is managed by Herefordshire Council, supported by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Mr Marshall said grants would be awarded only for new installations under the scheme, which has been designed to be as straightforward as possible and covers a range of renewable technologies including wind power, solar energy, air-source heat pumps, ground-sourced energy supplies and biomass.

Projects in the range of 4 to 200kWp can be supported. Eligible applicants include statutory and non-statutory public funded organisations/bodies, Higher and Further Education institutions, voluntary, community and not-for profit organisations and private sector companies. Primary agricultural businesses and domestic premises are not eligible though.