North Yorkshire sausage and burger business Heck! has invested £150,000 in solar energy production at its headquarters in Kirklington.
The company installed 433 solar electricity panels, which it said were "capable of generating 200,000 kwh per year", 20% of the factory energy.
Through the UK's shared prosperity fund, the UK Government provided the project with a £49,950 grant. Heck! said the shared prosperity fund was a "central pillar" of its "levelling up agenda", providing £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.
Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire Council, said: “Supporting the decarbonisation of the county is a key priority for the council. It is brilliant to see this grant have such a positive impact in supporting Heck! Food to install solar panels. Manufacturers of quality products like Heck! are an important part of the economy and it is vital they’re supported to reach net zero."
Jamie Keeble, Heck! co-founder, said the installation of solar panels was “an additional effort to make sure that we’re being sustainable from a factory perspective and also to support our journey to net zero. We’ll be saving 45 tonnes of carbon per year”.
Keeble continued: "We are quite unique in the industry as we make all our sausages, meatballs and burgers at our HECK! factory and we’re the only premium brand who makes their own food. We’ve made a commitment to our consumers and retail customers to show a transparent sustainability journey.
"We have measured our Scope 1 and 2 industry standards emissions for three years now, and as such we’ve managed a 30% reduction in our emissions. We recently measured Scope 3 emissions and are now identifying opportunities to reduce emissions further."
