At the recent Homebuilding and Renovating Show at the NEC, business woman and investor Deborah Meaden, took time out from her role on BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den by taking part in a solar roofing demonstration with renewables company Ploughcroft.
The demonstration attracted a packed audience and was led by Chris Hopkins, managing director of Ploughcroft, who showed how solar PV panels are installed and answered questions from Meaden and visitors to the show about solar installations and the Feed-in-Tariff (FiTs).
Hopkins commented, “We’ve done lots of solar roof demos before, but this was definitely one of the most exciting. It was fantastic to have Deborah (one of my two ‘Dragon’ business partners) attending the show, which attracted huge interest from visitors. It certainly stimulated some lively questions from the crowd and led to even more enquiries for our sales team.”
Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis invested in Ploughcroft in 2011 after Chris Hopkins appeared on Dragons’ Den to demonstrate how his solar/roofing business could take advantage of consumer demand for solar and other renewable technologies.
Meaden said, “I was interested in taking part in this demo, not just as an investor, but also because I have solar installed on my home. It was enlightening to find out how solar PV is installed and really good fun to give Chris a grilling on different aspects of solar. These are exciting times for Ploughcroft as the company extends its services to offer a wider portfolio of renewable products.”
Visitors to the Ploughcroft stand were also be able to find out how Ploughcroft can offer a full suite of renewable technologies, including solar thermal, air source heat pumps and wind turbines, as well as roofing and insulation to improve the energy efficiency of a home.
