Member Article

Renewable energy specialist welcomes new European CEO

Green heat specialist Organic Energy has welcomed the new CEO of Europe’s leading wood pellet boiler manufacturer for talks on future joint initiatives amid a growing renewable heating market in the UK.

Organic Energy, based in Welshpool, is Austria-based ÖkoFEN’s sole distributor in the UK and Ireland, having first struck the exclusive supply deal more than a decade ago.

The meeting saw ÖkoFEN chief executive Stefan Ortner and Organic Energy managing director Andy Boroughs discuss new product developments as well as future joint sales and marketing projects.

Mr Ortner is the son of sustainable energy pioneers Herbert and Elfriede Ortner, who founded the award-winning ÖkoFEN company which is at the cutting edge of wood pellet boilers design and manufacture.

Mr Boroughs said: “Stefan has taken over the reins at ÖkoFEN and we were delighted to host him at Organic Energy during his visit to the UK. We gave him a tour of our showroom and introduced him to one our our leading installers, Martin Dowley, of Shrewsbury-based 7 Energy.

“Our talks gave Stefan an improved understand of our business model and an insight into our views on the growth of the renewable heating market in the UK. And we also found the talks very beneficial, learning more about the OkoFEN business model in Austria, Germany, France, and other European and American markets.”

Mr Boroughs said ÖkoFEN were also keen to support to a new installer recruitment process, following the creation of Organic Energy’s Ambassador scheme for installers.

“This program offers unrivalled support for a network of installers via an ambassador who shares Organic Energy’s passion and ethos. We’ve recently appointed an ambassador in the North of England, Martin Robinson of Lancashire-based Sustaburn, and our discussions covered the growth of the renewable energy market in that region particularly.

“With so many homes and businesses off-grid in those rural areas and with oil prices rising, we are finding that more and more people are considering the alternative and choosing wood pellet boilers.”

Mr Ortner added: “Having met Andy numerous times in Austria, it was a pleasure to visit Organic Energy at its head office and showroom. I was very impressed with both the structure and organisation of the company and its sustained growth in recent years. The team at Organic Energy are hard-working, knowledgeable and passionate about what they do, and this meeting laid some great foundations for the future working relationship between our two companies.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Organic Energy .