Ideal receives £5.2m government funding boost

UK: Heat pump manufacturer Ideal Heating and its hot water cylinder manufacturing sister company Gledhill have received almost £5.2m from the UK government.

The government has also pledged a further investment of over £6.8m, taking the total to just over £12m.

It is the first funding award under the government’s Heat Pump Investment Accelerator competition, which aims to kickstart a homegrown heat pump industry.

The funding will enable increased production capacity of monobloc heat pump units and controls at Ideal Heating’s site in Hull, as well as hot water cylinders at the Gledhill manufacturing facility in Blackpool.

To mark the funding, Miatta Fahnbulleh, minister for energy consumers, visited Ideal Heating’s headquarters in Hull and its National Training and Technology Centre near the Humber Bridge.

The Government funding and the investment by Ideal Heating and Gledhill will enable the production of 115,000 air source heat pumps and indoor controls at Ideal Heating’s site in Hull annually by 2030. It will also enable production of 120,000 pre-plumbed hot water cylinders every year at the Gledhill site in Blackpool, within the same timescale.

“This funding is a vote of confidence in our business and our position at the forefront of the industry’s move to low carbon heating solutions,” commented Ideal’s Heating’s chief operations officer Jason Speedy.

“It will enable us to accelerate our plans for heat pump production and complements the broader programme of investment across our operations.”

Ideal Heating is part way through a £60m investment programme at its Hull site, spanning production, distribution, and research and development capabilities, with a specific focus on heat pumps.