Essex pub cuts fuel bills by half in six months to win energy contest

Ye Olde Albion pub near Colchester, Essex, has won a quiz night with England cricketer Phil Tufnell after slashing its fuel bills in half in The Publican's Efficiency Factor contest.

Licensee Simon Taylor-Williams was one of four finalists who battled over six months to improve their energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint, helped by a team of experts from sponsor British Gas Business.

Ye Olde Albion came top by cutting its energy consumption by 53 per cent.

As well as the celebrity pub quiz, Simon will receive £2,600, the value of an extra barperson working every Saturday night for a year.

"British Gas Business would like to congratulate all the staff at Ye Olde Albion for their commitment and success," said Kanat Emiroglu, director of SME markets at British Gas Business. "All four pubs are an example to the rest of the pub trade and Ye Olde Albion's reduction in energy is a remarkable achievement.

"The results accomplished by all the finalists prove it is possible for businesses to reduce their energy consumption, save money and do their bit for the environment."

Simon was particularly praised for fitting energy efficient lightbulbs throughout the pub and installing a wood-burning stove.

"We are delighted to have won," said Simon. "We never really thought about how much energy we could save by doing simple things like changing a few lightbulbs. But by taking the advice given to us by British Gas Business we've laid the foundations for a sustainable future for our business.

"And we're sure our locals will look forward to what promises to be an entertaining evening with Phil Tufnell! "

Second place went to Miles Gripton of Jagz in Ascot, Berkshire, who managed to reduce his energy consumption by 15% and also received £2,600.

The competition was set up by British Gas Business and The Publican to raise awareness among independent pubs of the need to be more energy efficient.

"By adopting simple low-cost and no-cost measures to reduce energy usage, we believe all pubs can slash up to 20 per cent of their average energy bill," concluded Kanat Emiroglu. "British Gas Business encourages all businesses to follow the lead set by the four pubs and look at their energy consumption today."