Sainsbury’s, Tesco and M&S don’t rule out Green Deal involvement, but are not on provider list

Three of the UK’s largest retailers have not ruled out participation in the Green Deal despite their names being absent from a list of 22 firms signed up to deliver the government’s flagship energy-efficiency scheme.

Major retailers Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and Tesco, which have all previously been linked with participation in the scheme, were not on the list of 22 organisations announced last week, which included contractors Carillion and Willmott Dixon and housebuilder Keepmoat.

However, M&S and Tesco have joined a new group formed to draft recommendations on the details of the scheme (see story below), while Enact Energy, which provides insulation services for both M&S and Tesco, was included on the list.

A spokesperson for M&S said the retailer was still considering its options, while a Tesco spokesperson said: “We already provide home energy-efficiency services and we’re indiscussion with the government and our supplier Enact to look at ways to expand that service.”

Sainsbury’s said: “We are supportive of the Green Deal and are working closely with the Department for Energy and Climate Change on the requirements for providers.”

Kingfisher, the parent company of retailer B&Q, was included in the agreement, which commits the parties to work to become the first providers of the scheme.

Providers of the Green Deal are central to the scheme as they will broker the deals with consumers and provide the finance necessary to fund the energy-efficiency installations, which consumers then pay back through a charge on their energy bills.

The list also included specialist contractor Mark Group, social housing developer Gentoo Group and community interest small enterprise Yorkshire Energy Services.

Green Deal providers form working group
A new Green Deal provider group has been set up to make recommendations to the government about how the details of the scheme should work.

Members of the group include major contractors Carillion and Willmott Dixon, retailer B&Q, builders’ merchants Travis Perkins and Wolsey and social housing provider Gentoo.

The group, which combines previous provider groups working under the UK Green Building Council and the Green Deal Finance Company, will also contain major retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Tesco.

David Adams, director of retrofit at Willmott Dixon Re-Thinking, who has been setting up the group, said: “There will be a series of different work groups focusing on different aspects of the Green Deal.”

He said the group would examine how providers would need to build a market and how the contracts in the supply chain would work.

A steering group of representatives from 17 firms will oversee the work of the subgroups. It will make recommendations to the government in 12 weeks’ time.

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