Hillserve Join Forces with British Gas
April 2010
Bredbury based Hillserve Ltd, a specialist domestic insulation company became part of British Gas’ new insulation business on 12th April. British Gas will now benefit from Hillserve’s strong presence and reputation in the north west, while Hillserve will gain access to the vast resources of their new parent company.
Established by Harry Hearsum in 1985, Hillserve celebrated 25 years of trading on 11th April, two days before their acquisition by British Gas’ parent company Centrica. As a family owned business, Hillserve grew to occupy three sites across North Wales and the North West of England. The Company currently employs 146 people and carried out 40,000 installations last year for private homeowners, local authorities and housing associations.
Hillserve’s success has been based on technical excellence and customer care, which according to Julie Hadfield, Hillserve’s General Manager, is what made British Gas’ approach so welcome, “Early on in our discussions it was obvious we both believed that taking care of the customer is the best way to develop a business. That shared philosophy, combined with the support that one of the UK’s most successful organisations could provide, made the relationship very attractive to us”.
Home insulation is the most cost effective way to reduce domestic energy consumption and British Gas has ambitious plans for the business of which Hillserve is now a key part. By the end of 2011 it plans to employ 1,100 people and expects the market to grow to £1.4bn over the next five years. Julie Hadfield believes it is the ideal time for Hillserve to become part of British Gas, “The growing need to conserve energy will see the accelerated development of new insulation materials and techniques. As part of British Gas, Hillserve will now be able to ensure our customers benefit from them as soon as possible”.