Bernard Matthews: nurturing efficiency down on the farm

Bernard Matthews is the UK's largest producer of turkeys, rearing seven million birds every year. Naturally, the energy needs of such a large business are extensive and complicated. How did E.ON help to meet the challenge?

Bernard Matthews: a high-energy case study

Bernard Matthews' headquarters are in Norfolk, where the business was founded some 65 years ago. Employing 2,000 people, the turkey producer is one of the largest employers in East Anglia. Due to its size, Bernard Matthews has substantial power needs, using electricity and energy from biomass to rear and feed their birds, as well as gas and electricity at their food production sites.

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What's the company's biggest energy challenge?

According to Bernard Matthews, the company's main goal is to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, and thereby become a more environmentally friendly business. Managers are also trying to improve the company's energy efficiency, using technology to aid the transfer to renewable energy sources.

"As the region's second largest private employer we feel a sense of duty to the communities we live in and the environment we inhabit,” explains George Youngs, Commercial Manager for Green Energy. "Over the last three years we have undergone a significant programme of developing renewable energy projects."

These have included wind and solar projects, as well as the installation of biomass boilers, and energy efficiency drives in the company's factories. They have also built an anaerobic digestion plant to generate electricity from waste products.

How did E.ON help?

Sian Magee, E.ON Key Account Manager, says that by building strong relationships with clients, E.ON can more easily meet their energy needs. The energy provider understands how important carbon reduction is to Bernard Matthews, and has helped the business to get the very best in value.

"Bernard Matthews are very price conscious and getting the best value is key to them," Sian says. "They also like flexibility both in their contract and from their supplier.

"The business is committed to carbon reduction and has a very robust plan with clear sustainability targets. As part of this they are constantly looking at investing in renewable technology – they have successfully implemented a number of renewable schemes including a 55-acre solar farm in Suffolk."

How was this achieved?

E.ON have supplied Bernard Matthews with a number of products, including a flexible power contract, the company's Energy Toolkit (see below), market intelligence reports and Market View, which gives clients visibility of live wholesale market prices.

How does the Energy Toolkit work?

Mark Daniels, E.ON's head of corporates marketing and development, explains that the Energy Toolkit was introduced in 2014 to help businesses get to grips with their energy use.

"It's a web based service with a variety of useful features and tools to enable users to monitor, analyse and control their energy use," Mark says.

"As well as an in-depth reporting function, the Toolkit also contains a configurable dashboard and email alert service."

Video: how Bernard Matthews made use of the Energy Toolkit

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Take control of your business's energy use with the E.ON Energy Toolkit. Click here for more information.