A TYNEDALE plumbing business has embarked on an ambitious recruitment campaign in response to surging demand for “green energy” home heating systems.

JP Westall, based in Hexham, wants to recruit a project manager and five heat pump installers immediately and anticipates its installation workforce could increase still further from its current 21 staff over coming months.

General manager Steve Wigham said the surge in demand for air and ground source heat pumps from householders was linked to publicity about global warming, with half of all enquiries to the business now driven by low-carbon options.

“A lot of customers want to reduce their carbon footprint,” he said. “David Attenborough programmes, the emphasis on global warming and the Government’s need to comply with its own carbon-reduction targets, supported by schemes such as the Renewable Heat Incentive and the now discontinued Green Home Energy grant, are causing people to look at their current fossil fuel demand.

“They are looking for alternative energy products that are less environmentally harmful.”

JP Westall installs both air source and ground source heat pumps, which are capable of meeting all the heating and hot water needs of a household simply by drawing heat from the air or ground.

The company is is currently installing around three heat pumps a week but aims to push this into double figures as more installers are recruited.