by Brianna Crandall — May 4, 2011—The U.K.’s cleantech companies are feeling optimistic about the future, according to new research from the Carbon Trust. Despite the wider economic uncertainty, cleantech companies have become more confident about their prospects in the last year, with more than three-quarters (77 percent) looking to recruit in the next 12 months and over a third (37 percent) planning to expand into new export markets in the next two years.
The companies surveyed listed their own growth prospects, technical strength, current sales pipeline, and market position as the key factors driving this optimism. Government legislation and policies were also given as reasons for confidence. However, 29 percent of the companies, and an even greater percent of smaller companies, cited a lack of access to finance as the main obstacle to expansion.
The report cites the example of Wales-based Econotherm, which is at the cutting edge of energy efficient technology—reportedly the only company of its kind in Europe. Its waste heat recuperators recover heat from industrial furnaces, boilers, ovens, thermal oxidizers and incinerators, which is then used to warm air, water or thermal oil, or public and operational spaces, or even for electricity generation. The company is “overwhelmed with demand” for its products from all corners of the globe. It doubled staff and turnover in 2010 and predicts equivalent growth in the first half of 2011.
The report indicates that U.K. companies reflect similar sentiments expressed across the global cleantech industry, including the anxiety over funding, mixed reactions to government policies and incentives, and the challenge of educating customers, with an overall optimism about the near future.
