Northumberland energy firm wins national award

Following on from its success in the regional awards, Calibrate Energy won best rural innovation category at the national Rural Business Awards (RBA).

The business, based near Belford, was recognised for its ground-breaking approach to designing, installing and maintaining renewable systems for agri-businesses.

It is Calibrate’s third accolade in a year including one gold award for technical innovation at the Highland Show Awards and Installer of the Year at the National ACR & Heat Pump Awards.

Susie McDonald, company co-founder, said: “The competition for this category this year was exceptional, and we are ecstatic Calibrate Energy has won a national Rural Business Award against such strong competition.

“Innovation is at the heart of everything we do and visibility like this helps us to get closer to our vision of making net zero a reality for businesses through innovative technologies. Our company puts a lot of effort into customer satisfaction, and we are thrilled that our efforts have been recognised with this award.”

To date Calibrate have installed 300MW of heat pumps and renewables to rural businesses, whilst preventing the release of tens of thousands of tonnes (and counting) of carbon into the atmosphere.

Rural Business Awards director, Jemma Clifford, said: “We are very proud to host the seventh annual Rural Business Awards in partnership with Amazon, especially after the past 18 months.

"On behalf of the Rural Business Awards team, I would like to say congratulations to Calibrate Energy for this very well-deserved win and wish them all the best for the future.”

The awards are decided by an independent panel of judges drawn from the rural business sector, official agencies and rural charitable organisations.

Feedback from the panel acknowledged Calibrate’s role at the heart of rural business supporting the local community and said they were at the forefront of emerging technology, with a clear ethos towards sustainability.

Melanie Thompson-Glen, business development manager at award sponsor NICRE, based at Newcastle University, said: “Huge congratulations to Calibrate Energy on winning this national award. They show innovation in rural business at its best and epitomise the breadth of enterprise we have in this country, while being a trailblazer for the rural economy and a great supporter of their local community.”