Q: How many pallet movements does it take to pay for a high-bay?

A: None. You get UrbanVolt to pay for it.

UrbanVolt has revolutionised the lighting industry, cutting its clients operational costs, increasing cash flow and giving them a competitive advantage.

Graham Deane, COO, explains UrbanVolt’s Light as a Service (LaaS): “Light as a Service is similar to services like Netflix or Spotify which give you an enormous range of benefits for a small monthly fee. LaaS is basically a lighting upgrade with energy savings but cash-flow positive from day one. So instead of shelling out capital on an upgrade, UrbanVolt puts up all the money, installs the LED light fittings and maintains them for five years. We then share the savings with the client.”

With zero capital investment, clients get energy savings from day one and many businesses are no longer buying lighting products but opting for LaaS instead. So what makes UrbanVolt’s business model different to existing models? “The traditional lighting industry is focused on a transactional sale,” says Graham, “where they drown their clients in technical details and pass all the financial and technical risk to the end user.”

On a traditional purchase, the client normally pays on receipt and assumes all the risk. “And it’s the same with leased or financed lighting,” Graham Deane points out. “A deposit or guarantee is required, and if a light fails, they still have to continue paying for the faulty product.

Instead, UrbanVolt assumes all that risk, pays all the upfront costs and replace any fittings that fail during the five year agreement under a no-haggle insurance wrapper. “Hard to say no to a proposal like that,” says Graham. So what are the benefits to those in the transport and logistics industries? “An immediate increase in net cash flow and a substantial drop in operating costs, which translates into a significant competitive advantage. “Our clients are telling us they’re worried about how Brexit will add cost and complexity to their business.”

Most operating costs in the logistics and transport sector are fixed, and one of the few expenses which can be cut is energy. Lighting is typically 80% of the energy consumption of a non-refrigerated warehouse so there are huge savings by switching to LEDs and LaaS. “Our clients look to us to futureproof themselves against the fallout of Brexit and increase their pool of capital,” he explains, “as one client said to us, he would have to move thousands of additional pallets in order to add the same amount to his bottom line, which UrbanVolt has delivered overnight.”

UrbanVolt’s projects vary widely. Recently they were given a three week window to retrofit one premises with over 3,000 industrial light fixtures which were installed at height, working 24/7 to complete it within the client’s timeframe. Another premises had an annual lighting bill of €55,000 but post-installation their energy bill dropped to €16,000. “For that particular premises we charge an annual service fee of €17,000,” says Graham Deane, “giving them cash savings of over €21,000 (64% net saving) annually, as well as a zero capex LED lighting upgrade. Our service fee included project management, all installation costs and maintenance over five years. And at the end of the five year agreement they keep the lights and all the savings.”

So how many pallets moved does it take to add €21,000 to the bottom line?

UrbanVolt’s clients in the transport, logistics and manufacturing industries are growing significantly: “Most of our business is now coming from referrals. In just over one year we installed over 100 projects, so we have a proven track record that we deliver on everything we commit to. We hope that in the near future, no business will ever purchase LED lights. Instead, they will ‘UrbanVolt it’.”

For more information on how UrbanVolt can save your business money, contact:

UrbanVolt, 13 Lad Lane,Dublin 2.

T: +353 1 699 3340

E: getstarted@urbanvolt.com

www.urbanvolt.com