It was only a few weeks ago when we revealed our partnership with amber energy – the global utilities company with a simple mission: to fix utilities, save the planet and make people happy, leading the way in the energy industry.
As an introduction to this partnership, our own Emma Brooks chatted with the amber energy team to discuss how Quintex started, the kind of businesses we support and what our plans are for the future!
Quintex was first established in 1996 as a consultancy in the foodservice space. We’re essentially energy and grease management experts. In 2000, we introduced demand control ventilation systems to the UK, developing our own version called Cheetah. Cheetah is our flagship product and has been for years. Across the EMEA, and other parts of the world, we’ve installed around 8,000 systems so far.
Just to explain what it does use an everyday scenario if you’re in the kitchen at home and you want to cook an egg, you’d turn your extractor fan to one or whatever your lowest setting is; for a roast dinner, you’d turn your extractor fan to max. The Cheetah system does this all automatically.
By installing and using sensors in the canopies of commercial kitchens, we’re able to regulate the fan speed based on demand; the more they cook, the more air it extracts, and the less they cook, the less it extracts.
If you slow a fan down from 100% to 90%, you actually save 27% of the required power needed to run it; and by turning that fan down to 50%, you save 88% of that power. That’s how we can make significant savings for our clients.
It’s a family-run business. Our client manager, Chris, is the grandson of the founder. His grandad started the business in 1996, then his dad joined in 2000, and Chris followed suit in 2018. That is a huge part of our ethics actually. We’re not a huge company, but most of our team have been with us for 10 years plus. So, we must be doing something right.
Our client base includes businesses like Hilton, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, NHS, Fullers and Wagamama’s. Around 95% of our business is in the hospitality space, but what we do is also highly compatible with other sectors. For example, we also work with universities, schools and office buildings. But it’s important to note that we’re not just about achieving energy savings for our clients. We also sort out fan maintenance and often help with any noise abatement orders they may receive.
Yes, absolutely. Ours is an energy efficiency product that can make a real impact. We explain to our clients, “Yes, we can save you X amount on your energy bills every year, and that’s going to have a great impact on your bottom line. But, more than that, what we’re doing is also going to help you meet your net zero targets.” At the end of the day, it’s not just about the commercial value for us. It’s about being as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible as well.
Following the first national lockdown in March, all our clients essentially closed their doors. But with cheetah, we could access their systems remotely; we were able to download their data on a daily basis and then advise our clients accordingly – taking action where necessary. More than that, our team spent those strange few months discussing how we could improve on what we’re already offering; to future-proof the business and push things forward. Our vision is now much stronger because of that.
A mutual friend recommended that we speak to amber’s founder and CEO, Nick Proctor, so we approached him with our backstory and described what we do for our clients. The partnership started taking shape from that moment onwards, really.
For the short term, at least, we’ve moved our focus on to the £1 billion Salix fund that the government has given to the public sector. We’ve previously installed our systems for universities, schools and hospitals, with great results, and we’re now looking to expand on that offering. With some of our contacts in the private sector halting any capital investments for the foreseeable future, we’re really excited to see how we can do more in and for the public sector.
Of course, we’re thrilled about the recent Quintex and amber energy partnership! Chris, our Client and partnerships manager here at Quintex said, “As with all partnerships it’s important that your brand values are aligned, that’s what excites us about working with Amber Energy, knowing that they will have any clients best interest at heart. With our combined passion in sustainability, I have no doubt that together we will help many businesses meet their energy and carbon goals.”
Huw Mitchell, Strategic Partnerships Development Manager at amber energy, said: “Quintex are a great example of an amber energy partnership which benefits all parties. Our clients have access to a piece of technology which saves them money and carbon, which in turn provides Quintex with new opportunities. At the same time Quintex understands how hard we work to find the most effective solutions to their clients’ energy challenges and having worked closely with us they are confident to recommend us. They know that we’ll bring that same level of customer-centred focus.”