Together Gloucestershire are delighted to announce the first of many projects that will stay locally because of the initiative that is led by Cirencester & Cheltenham Chambers of Commerce. The project that is worth £1.4m has been awarded to the counties Cotswold Energy Group.
Gary Thompson, Chief of Staff to the Chief Constable said:
“Gloucestershire Constabulary was asked to take part in one of the first Together Gloucestershire meetings which was hosted at police headquarters at Waterwells. Whilst the Constabulary may initially be seen as an obvious partner in this work, it was important to us, as a local employer of choice and the county`s fifth largest employer, to make sure that we contributed to the key aim of investing in the county wherever possible.
This was a timely challenge as the Constabulary had just secured £1.4million grant funding from the Government`s Salix fund to help pay for the installation of air source heat pumps at three key police station across the county. The Constabulary is the only force in the country to hold ISO 14001 certification in Environmental Management Systems and has pledged to achieve carbon neutral status by 2035, so the installation of heat pumps was a key part of this plan.
Along with the south west procurement hub, a specification was compiled and circulated to suppliers with the result that a local company, Cotswold Energy, won the contract. This was excellent news for the Constabulary as not only were we fortunate to have secured a bid from such a well-established company but one which was actually based within the county and one with staff all located within the county. This meant that the substantial contract value would be invested into a local company and in fulfilling that contract, their staff would minimise their carbon footprint as they were all local people, travelling less miles.
The contract is now drawing to an end and all sites are up and running with the new air source heat pumps. The Constabulary is very pleased with the support and engagement which Cotswold Energy has shown during the contract and we are now looking forward to many years benefit from the heat pumps.”