Member Article

‘Carbon negative’ umbrella manufacturer covered by Royal visit

The Earl of Wessex is scheduled to visit Tata Steel in Stocksbridge, the Barnsley Town Hall Business Showcase and Booth Brothers of Bullhouse Mill, near Penistone, on 13th September on a trip to South Yorkshire.

At the final destination, he will be given a guided tour of the Booth Brothers’ umbrella factory, The Old Corn Mill, a recently restored building that has been refitted to exceptional standards of environmental performance, where he will meet the company’s employees

It is one of only about 15 ‘carbon negative’ commercial properties in England and Wales.

A combination of solar panels, wind turbines and water power means the building produces more energy than it consumes, giving it an energy performance rating of A+.

The Old Corn Mill is the brainchild of Charles Booth, who is making the other buildings at Bullhouse Mill more sustainable too.

Since 2005, Booth Brothers have reduced their energy consumption by more than 30% through investing in low energy lighting and more energy efficient equipment. Earlier this year, the company developed a new method of printing onto umbrellas, called ‘UV Print’, which uses low energy LED drying and is virtually emission free.

Charles Booth said: “We are delighted and honoured that His Royal Highness will visit Booth Brothers to meet our skilled manufacturing and printing staff.

“We are also looking forward to showing The Earl the site and its beautiful location on the edge of the Pennines and introducing him to some of the other companies at the Bullhouse Mill office and workshop complex who share our vision for sustainable business.”

Booth Brothers supplies promotional umbrellas to around a thousand distributors across the UK and Ireland. The company employs 50 people at its headquarters in South Yorkshire and a further 50 at its second manufacturing facility, in the Fujian province of China.

The Earl’s tour will culminate with him signing the Booth Brothers’ guest book and unveiling a plaque to commemorate the visit.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Gatehouse .