ESTA Viewpoint

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Entering a decade of discovery

While we have now left the EU, 2020 is going to be a year of ongoing challenges as trade deals are sorted out that will potentially impact on the priorities of business. For most of 2019 the economic uncertainty in the UK meant that for many businesses staying in business was the priority. Saving the planet, which should be priority number one, slid down the list especially when energy prices have continued to rise quickly.

As I write this, the jury is still out on what is going to happen in terms of energy policies. There have been rumours about ministerial reshuffles and indeed a big reorganisation of Government ministries themselves. I would certainly welcome the moving of energy out of BEIS and giving it its own ministry. DECC may have had its challenges but it did at least focus on its key purpose. As a relatively small subset of business in BEIS, there has been so much noise about trade deals and Brexit that energy has rather lost its voice. It would also be good to have an energy minister who understands energy. The days when ministers could expect to stay in post long enough to totally understand their brief are regrettably, in my opinion, long gone. Unlike sectors like housing and construction where there has been a total lack of consistency due to a merry go round of ministerial appointments energy has at least had a bit more consistency albeit not with a real voice in cabinet. Around Mervyn Pilley is executive director of ESTA (Energy Services and Technology Association) Now that we have some political stability Mervyn Pilley looks at the prospects for energy saving as we enter a new decade. Will the UK lead the way or lag behind?

the world far too many politicians talk the talk but totally fail to walk the walk when it comes to real, tangible and urgent policy decisions. Is the UK leading the way? Many people argue that we in the UK are leading the way. However, in some areas I don’t believe that the solutions can all be left to the free market to solve. I am aware that that statement sounds rather counter intuitive to my stated goal for ESTA for 2020 which is to get work for our members. Government interference may be the last thing some businesses would want but a lot of pump priming, potentially through tax allowances is needed with many more carrots than sticks needed to encourage businesses to act. Taking away the enhanced capital allowances scheme is, in my opinion, a very bad example of how removing an incentive is not going to help the situation.

Despite the usual challenges of January, I have started the process of delivering some of the change A t last we have some clarity on the political front. While there are still many things to be agreed going forward, one must hope that business can start addressing what they need to do in terms of supporting all efforts to save the planet.

‘The 2020s really are going to be a critical decade for us all’

programme I worked on developing last year. A more positive outlook on the economy should help and I am more positive that the initiatives that stalled last year should move more quickly this year. I know that I have a mountain to climb. Remembering that we are a UK-wide trade association is vital and at the very time that the Union seems to be more at risk than ever before I am looking to ramp up our activity in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition, post Brexit, I am determined to explore global opportunities for ESTA members and indeed look at international businesses which may be looking at the UK market. If we don’t get swept away by WTO rules or tariffs there is strong potential out there. Developing more collaborative relationships with other like-minded organisations is also vital. Collaboration on a vast scale is needed.

Getting more potential customers and end users of our members’ services is going to be a priority at our events in 2020. In addition, ESTA is moving towards areas of energy efficiency that it hasn’t traditionally looked at before. With the speed of technology developing, new solutions, together with the wide range of existing solutions out there, growing our membership and groups is certainly on the agenda. I have always liked disruption and innovation. As the son of a highly innovative engineer and inventor who died leaving some thirty odd patents in his name, that is one of the positive traits I have inherited.

The 2020s really are going to be a critical decade for us all. In my case I suspect that I may not still be working by the end of the decade and there is a good chance that my three-, soon to be four-year-old grandson might either never get to a state retirement situation or indeed he might never have a life of work that I have experienced due to those AI solutions. He certainly won’t have much of a carbon budget to spend. • If any readers of this column are interested in joining me/us on a voyage of discovery with ESTA please get in touch. Even if you aren’t interested in membership there are many other possible ways that we can work together for mutual benefit. 