Mark Group management team confirm insulation arm purchase

The former management team of failed installer Mark Group has confirmed that it has successfully acquired its insulation arm, saving more than 200 jobs that were up for redundancy.

Mark Group entered administration last week after SunEdison revealed that it was to “de-emphasise” the UK market in the wake of sweeping cuts to the feed-in tariff currently proposed by the government.

A total of 939 staff were made redundant that day. While there were local press reports suggesting staff had barricaded the entrance to Mark Group’s offices in a dispute over pay, Solar Power Portal understands that this was a result of a misunderstanding between employees, Mark Group and administrators which was resolved the same day.

It was reported at the time that the former management team was in discussions to acquire one part of the business to focus on energy efficiency technologies and Bill Rumble, the former managing director of Mark Group and director of the new entity BillsaveUK, said that the deal would provide secure jobs that were previously at risk.

“After the shock of last Wednesday, the mood in the team is not one of celebration. Our thoughts are very much with our friends and colleagues who lost their jobs last week. We will continue to do what we can to support them to find new opportunities,” Rumble said.

BillsaveUK is to initially focus solely on supplying and installing loft and cavity insulation for new homes to construction companies and does not currently have any contract under the government’s Eco programme.

BillsaveUK has also confirmed that it does not intend to install solar PV in the future owing to the Conservative Party’s renewables stance.

Rumble said that the government must now take more seriously the issue of the country’s inefficient buildings, criticising a lack of long-term policies to help drive down consumer bills.

“The UK has some of the lowest unit prices of energy in Europe, yet the highest energy bills. One of the reasons for this is this country’s inefficient buildings simply waste too much. Addressing this issue and balancing centralised energy generation with more locally produced power using technologies such as solar will lead to lower energy bills and carbon emissions,” Rumble said, adding: “Crucially, it will also go a long way to keeping the lights on.”