Parker Plant Ltd
3 March 2025
Sector: Manufacturing
Location: Leicester
Parker Plant is a market leader in the manufacture and supply of reliable solutions for asphalt, crushing, screening, sand and gravel, concrete and material handling equipment throughout the world.
From its humble beginnings beneath a railway arch in Leicester, the business that Frederick Parker established in 1911 went on to achieve success around the world with products sold to over 150 countries.
Vision and Challenges
There were several key areas the business wanted to address to achieve its vision for the future. This included:
- Facilities and Capacity Expansion: Build a modern, tailored facility on the existing site in Leicester, consolidating all operations into one location to enhance efficiency.
- Energy Efficiency: Integrate solar panels, energy-efficient heating, and other green initiatives during the new build stage to reduce operational costs and carbon footprint.
Its main challenges in delivering these parts of the growth strategy included sustainability and data gaps:
- Limited access to accurate energy data due to ongoing site changes which made it difficult to benchmark its carbon footprint.
- Unsure how to incorporate energy-efficient solutions into the new site at the build stage.
Solution and Impact
Parker Plant has been supported by the Accelerator project. Accelerator is funded by Leicester City Council’s share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and delivered by East Midlands Chamber.
Chamber Business Adviser Joanna Moore has been working with Jason Standley, Group Health and Safety Manager on a 1-to-1 basis to understand the business and vision.
This support has helped Parker Plant to expand its operations and modernise its processes while integrating sustainability into its core strategy. This has been done by:
- Creating a Sustainability Action Plan outlining actionable steps to build a state-of-the-art facility, achieve energy efficiency, and align with the company’s vision of growth over five years.
- Signposting to other support programmes and partners operating in this space to help employees gain new skills and knowledge in sustainable practices and possible finance and funding option to help implement plans.
- Providing access to a specialist consultant who conducted an Energy Audit and provided tailored recommendations for the company’s new building.
The energy audit reviewed historical records and provided tailored recommendations for the company’s new building. Instead of replicating systems from the old, now-demolished site, it proposed more sustainable solutions to be integrated from the outset. This proactive approach ensures energy-efficient measures are built in from the start, avoiding the need for costly retrofits later.
Jason commented: “The energy audit meant that when we went to the tendering stage, we could specify what we wanted for the new building. We had that bit of expert support behind us on what would work for our business. This was extremely valuable.”
“For all parts of the Accelerator service, including the energy audit and advice from Jo, we have received an excellent service.”
- Jason Standley, Group Health and Safety Manager
This initiative is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and delivered by East Midlands Chamber on behalf of Leicester City Council.
