M3 SOLUTIONS THIRD IN FASTEST-GROWING PRIVATE COMPANIES IN KENT BY TURNOVER AT MEGAGROWTH 50 2017
Folkestone-based M3 Solutions finished third in the fastest-growing private companies in Kent category by turnover growth over the last three financial years, with revenues of at least £3 million.
M3 Solutions’ turnover reached nearly £17 million in 2015, boosted by government subsidies in the renewable energy sector.
The company put in solar panels at 26 Roadchef sites across the country in a deal worth £1.5 million, the largest single contract its bosses had ever signed.
The firm also carried out the largest retrofitting of solar PV in London, installing 4,000 panels in Bow, and installed another 1,000 at Chester Zoo.
However, turnover then dropped to approximately £4 million as the government scrapped subsidies for the industry. It now employs eight people from a peak of 30 during the heightened solar installation contracts.
There are plans to increase the workforce again though as Britain’s first solar power farm to operate without a government subsidy opened in eastern England during September, as a sharp fall in costs has made renewable energy much more economical.
M3 Solutions was founded by managing director Adrian Williams as an office furniture supplier in 2004. It grew to become an office fit-out business and began installing LED lighting in 2011. Sales director Shaun Beattie and operations director Andy Panting are now the other two partners.
The solar installation market took off when the company’s landlord asked if it could install the panels on his farmland.
