York energy efficient products company placed into administration

On 11 March 2016 Rob Sadler and Dave Broadbent of Begbies Traynor in York were appointed as joint administrators of Solarwall Limited.

The family business, which has traded in York for nearly 40 years, provided a range of energy-saving products including insulation, solar panels and heat pumps. It suffered as a result of a series of changes in recent years to government policy and energy suppliers’ commitments.

The company, located in Clifton, ceased trading on 11 March 2016 with all 21 staff being made redundant.  Begbies Traynor is currently marketing Solarwall’s brand and intellectual property assets.

Joint administrator Rob Sadler said: “It is sad to see the demise of such a long-established York business and the loss of local jobs.  Unfortunately, the spate of changes in government policy in the energy sector made it very difficult for Solarwall to forecast future work, leading to cash flow problems.

“We are currently trying to salvage what we can for the creditors by seeking a buyer for the company’s brand and IP.”

Sue Lamb, director of Solarwall Limited, added: “Since 1999, we have had to adapt to ongoing changes in government policy; in 2015 we concentrated our efforts on installing our renewable technology products when there was little activity from the energy suppliers on insulation and boilers, but the severe changes in the feed-in tariffs which came into force in January this year, proved to be the final straw.”

“We recently lost two not for profit organisations which work on fuel poverty alongside local authorities in Yorkshire and that had a further impact on our business.  They have been hit with the same problems, a lack of a strong, consistent government policy on energy efficiency, knee jerk reactions and letting the energy suppliers control the targets set upon them for their energy company obligations.”