Award-winning energy consultancy Advantage Utilities is helping UK manufacturers protect margins, cut carbon and stay competitive in an increasingly volatile energy market.
Advantage Utilities, recently named Consultancy of the Year (Large Customers) at the 2025 TELCA Awards, is demonstrating how strategic energy management can deliver long-term cost savings and operational resilience for some of the UK’s most energy-intensive manufacturers.
One such success story is Caro Group, a leading UK manufacturer supplying the construction, aerospace, defence and flood defence sectors. Through a long-term partnership with Advantage Utilities, the business has saved more than £3.2 million in energy costs while significantly reducing its carbon footprint.
The achievement comes at a time when UK manufacturers are facing unprecedented pressure from volatile wholesale markets, rising network charges, tightening regulation and growing customer demand for lower-carbon supply chains.
For foundries and heavy manufacturing sites, energy is one of the largest operating costs. A poorly timed procurement decision can rapidly erode margins and, in extreme cases, threaten business survival.
Recognising this risk early, Caro Group partnered with Advantage Utilities over 12 years ago to build a structured, long-term energy strategy designed to deliver price stability, regulatory compliance and measurable carbon reduction.
In 2009, Advantage Utilities advised Caro Group to enter a five-year energy contract, a move that later proved pivotal when wholesale markets experienced historic volatility. While hundreds of UK foundries were forced to close during the energy crisis, Caro Group was protected from extreme price shocks and remained commercially competitive.
Since then, Advantage Utilities has continued to support the business with a comprehensive energy and sustainability programme spanning procurement, efficiency, compliance and behavioural change.
Key initiatives delivered through the partnership include:
- Strategic energy procurement and contract structuring
- Low-powered machinery upgrades
- LED lighting installation
- Waste reduction programmes
- Shared driving schemes
- Ongoing regulatory compliance and reporting
Together, these measures have delivered both direct cost savings and long-term reductions in operational emissions.
David Lowe, Group Managing Director at Caro Group, said the consultancy’s proactive approach has been critical.
“Power is one of our main costs, and getting the prices wrong can be disastrous. Advantage came to us with solutions before we even knew we had the problem. In a time when hundreds of foundries went bust, we managed to stay afloat and saved over £3.2 million in the process.”
Advantage Utilities’ recent Consultancy of the Year accolade reflects its growing reputation for supporting large, complex energy users across manufacturing, property, healthcare and infrastructure.
With wholesale markets remaining volatile and non-commodity costs continuing to rise, many manufacturers are now re-evaluating how energy is managed across their organisations.
The Caro Group case demonstrates how early strategic planning, combined with specialist advisory support, can deliver long-term protection against market shocks while supporting sustainability goals.
For UK manufacturers seeking to improve resilience, control costs and meet tightening ESG requirements, energy strategy is rapidly becoming a board-level priority, and Advantage Utilities is positioning itself at the forefront of that shift.
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