Member Article

Doncaster family engineering firm doubles turnover thanks to biomass orders

A Doncaster firm of heating engineers has doubled its turnover within a year thanks to a hike in orders for its bespoke biomass boiler systems.

RN Mechanical designs and builds made-to-measure renewable energy systems which generate heat and hot water for schools, stately homes including Chatsworth House, business premises, farms and industrial-sized greenhouses used by commercial flower growers.

The family firm, which has four generations of heating and ventilation know-how behind it, has seen demand for its self-contained biomass plant rooms, called Biopods, shoot up, with orders representing 80% of its business today compared to 20% a year ago.

This steep growth in the renewables, means RN Mechanical (RNM) achieved a record turnover of £3 million last year – twice the size of the previous year’s figure - and anticipates handling £4 million worth of orders before the end of this financial year (April 2015).

The company’s rapid expansion has been supported by Business Doncaster, a partner in the South Yorkshire Sector Growth Enhancement Programme (SYSGEP), which is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Yorkshire and The Humber ERDF Programme (2007-13).

RN Mechanical has just shipped its largest order yet for biomass boilers to a Sussex school. In the deal worth over £1 million, the company has supplied Bede’s independent school with three Biopods to produce heating and hot water for over 2,000 staff and students.

RN Mechanical managing director Richard Nicklin said: “This is our biggest biomass order yet and builds on growing interest in our green technology systems, both large and small.”

Business Doncaster helped RN Mechanical find a new 10,000 square foot factory to allow space for construction of Biopods, at Adwick-le-Street in Doncaster a year ago. In addition, RNM have been introduced to local supply chains, potential customers, funding packages and other agencies.

Marysia Dubeck, Business Doncaster’s sector growth manager for energy and environmental technologies said: “It is fantastic to see an established Doncaster company at the cutting edge of innovation in the renewables industry. RN Mechanical’s strength is that they do everything for the customer – through bespoke design, construction and delivery to day-to-day maintenance.

“They use their expertise and experience to present a complete package that is proving very attractive.”

RN Mechanical installed one of its first biomass boilers at Chatsworth House in 2012 and this heats the Duke of Devonshire’s estate office and other estate properties.

Richard’s grandfather, Arthur Nicklin set up a Doncaster heating engineering business in the 1930s. His father Peter continued in the trade and Richard set up RN Mechanical in 1999 with his son David, who has led on much of the design work for the Biopod. RN Mechanical employs a workforce of 16.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .