Stapleton Tyres, part of the Japanese Itochu Corporation, supplies 5 million tyres each year on a 24/7 basis and has twice daily deliveries. The Kwik Fit tyres retailer is also part of the group. 

The lighting project started following a successful trial with LED lighting at Stapleton Tyres’ Letchworth distribution centre – indeed Ecolighting had previously lit the site with T5 fluorescent tubes back in 2013.

This scheme was soon followed by the installation of LED lighting in Stapleton Tyres’ newly-acquired Peterborough warehouse which Ecolighting completed ahead of schedule. With a start date of October, the scheme needed to be finished by early February but was actually completed at the end of November. 

Stapleton Tyres is delighted with the results of the project as group director, Ian Kirkpatrick, comments: “We chose to work with Ecolighting based on past experience. They not only provide value for money but also have high customer service levels. The team at Ecolighting are incredibly responsive and very flexible if there is a potential issue that could cause delays. They really do focus on customer service and operational needs and are always very professional and efficient.”

Benefits

For Stapleton Tyres, there were big benefits in switching to energy efficient LED lighting within the context of ESOS (the government energy saving opportunities survey) as the lighting provided huge reductions in energy and carbon footprint – here some 1174t of CO₂ was saved on the company’s carbon footprint. Kirkpatrick adds: “All but two of our 11 distribution centres have now been completed and in the last three or four months since the first distribution centres were completed in Guildford, Maidstone and Portbury, we have achieved a 50% reduction in energy which is excellent.” 

The projected financial savings put forward by Ecolighting illustrate a very short return on investment, with payback averaging just 1.75 years across all the distribution centres. In addition, by investing in the LED lighting schemes, Stapleton Tyres attracts an enhanced capital allowance (ECA) of 19% of the investment able to be reclaimed in the first year.

Depending on the actual distribution centre building, Ecolighting has installed LED lighting in the warehouse aisles, at mezzanine level, in the despatch areas, under external canopies, and in car parks. In many distribution centres office lighting was installed too.

Ecolighting has its own team of lighting and electrical installation engineers and carries out the lighting scheme design with Relux software in the early stages of client lighting projects. The company manufactures its luminaires in the UK and uses UK-sourced Osram control gear and LED chips. All of this means that the company has effective control and can present value for money to clients. The company is also a Carbon Trust Accredited Supplier, assessed to BSEN ISO 9001:2015 and is a member of the Lighting Industry Association.

For the Stapleton Tyres lighting installations, Ecolighting drew on its extensive portfolio of LED lighting products, particularly its Pegasus LED Highbay luminaire and Altos emergency LED Highbay fittings used in lighting the main warehouse aisles.It also used its Sapphire LED linear fittings for the mezzanine areas, plus LED floodlights for yards and car parks and its 600 x 600 LED modular fittings where offices were lit. All of the Pegasus LED Highbay luminaires feature DALI drivers and PIR occupancy sensors to dim the lights or turn them off when no-one is present, both contributing to the energy savings achieved whilst ensuring health and safety remains a priority.