Lincoln & York
Manufacturing and industry
About the client
Lincoln & York provides a coffee-sourcing, roasting and packaging service to the out-of-home and food service, distributor and specialist retail markets in the UK, Europe and worldwide. Founded in 1994, the company has almost 19000 coffee shop outlets in the UK.
The challenge
Lincoln & York was using 406,290 litres of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) per annum and was experiencing poor load pressure at peak roasting times, which resulted in quality control issues.
The solution
BCR Associates was approached to identify ways to reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions. We identified that switching to natural gas would not only improve roast quality and burner performance, but would also reduce annual gas expenditure and vastly improve the client’s carbon footprint. Lincoln & York was based on a site that had no access to a natural gas main, hence we researched and delivered a costed infrastructure proposal that allowed the client to achieve their goals.
Working closely with the directors at Lincoln & York, our dedicated Energy Consultant provided a complete end-to-end service to restructure the company’s energy supplies. We researched the market and offered appropriate solutions, managing the entire project on the company’s behalf, all without cost or obligation. 100% of the savings realised were added to the client’s profit.
Working with engineers and network project technicians we initiated a significant infrastructure project to install a mains connection and complete the project within the time and budget specified. This installation was costly, however, the benefits far outweighed the cost and scale of works.
A custom-built rotary gas meter and over 180 meters of gas mains were installed, whilst the factory continued to operate on LPG during the works to ensure business continuity.
The results
Despite the expense of the installation, BCR delivered an energy saving of £79,519 per annum to Lincoln & York, which equated to a 49% reduction in costs.
Additionally, owing to the change from LPG to natural gas, Lincoln & York’s carbon emissions reduced by 79,770Kg/CO2 per annum. This is the equivalent to filling a hot air balloon 16 times, or driving round the earth in an average car 10 times
Project summary
- Client roasts and packs coffee around the clock
- Experienced expensive energy bills and quality control issues
- BCR researched alternative solutions and managed project end-to-end
- Client benefitted from full product management including regulatory updates and forecasting