Mike and Shirley Rattray, Woodlands Service Centre
Read about how GrowBiz was able to help this family-run business to access key funding that helped them solve a problem they were experiencing and achieve the following outcomes:
Green initiatives – using solar energy in the garage and generating enough power to sell some back to the grid. Further increasing sustainable practices by connecting new underfloor heating to theit solar energy system and installing motion sensors to lighting
Collaboration – Supplying green energy to a local business, Fife Creamery, who connect their refrigerated vans to Woodlands’ power supply so they can charge up overnight
Community wealth building – Sharing the Woodlands Service Centre premises with local business, Greenflame, and also renting out smaller units and storage facilities to other businesses and local residents
Mike and Shirley’s Story
Woodlands Service Centre is an independent, local garage service provider based in Grantown-on Spey in the Cairngorms National Park. A well-established name in the local community, the business is a real family affair, having been started in 1969 by Lewis Rattray and now owned and managed by his son Michael.
Supporting Mike is a first-class team of mechanics and administrative super heroes, with a line-up that includes Shirley (Mike’s wife), Lyla (Mike and Shirley’s daughter) and Josh (Mike and Shirley’s son). They work with an expert team in the Workshop, Parts, Tyres and Office to deliver their customers a first-class service across all makes and models.
Woodlands Service Centre experienced the same pressures as many other businesses when utility costs soared after the COVID pandemic. What had been a manageable business cost escalated into colossal bills as the cost of energy started soaring in 2021. As a heavy user of energy due to the nature of their business, Mike and Shirley had to find ways of making their energy costs sustainable, both in terms of the cost to the business and the way in which their energy was generated.
GrowBiz Enterprise Facilitator Karen Martin is a customer of Woodlands Service Centre and got into conversation with Mike and Shirley about their rising business energy costs whilst her car was in the garage. As someone who is up to date with what local businesses are doing and what support is available to them, Karen was able to make Mike and Shirley aware of funding that was available via Highlands & Islands Enterprise to help with the cost of installing solar panels.
If they were successful in accessing the funding, it would allow Woodlands to instal solar panels, helping to reduce both rising energy costs and the carbon footprint of the business.
Thanks to the local knowledge and support of Karen Martin, Mike and Shirley were able to make an application to the fund before the deadline. Their application was successful, allowing them to instal 98 solar panels at the garage plus multiple battery packs to store the power that is generated. Plans are now underway to instal more battery packs and the team have also fitted energy efficient underfloor heating for the premises as well as motion sensors to reduce unnecessary lights being on when areas are not in use.
Additionally, Woodlands Service Centre has teamed up with Fife Creamery to allow their refrigerated vans to charge up overnight from Woodlands’ green energy supply. The result is that two local businesses are successfully collaborating to provide a more sustainable and affordable service to their customers across the Cairngorms National Park.
How did GrowBiz support Mike and Shirley?
Mike and Shirley received direct support from GrowBiz Enterprise Facilitator Karen Martin. As a customer of the garage and someone who has a good understanding of local businesses and how to connect them to sources of help and support, Karen was able to help Mike and Shirley access the funding they needed to reduce their soaring energy costs. The funding has also helped Woodlands Service Centre to become more sustainable and then collaborate with other local businesses looking for affordable green energy.