Leek United Building Society

11-03-2021

Leek United Building Society have been in business for nearly 160 years, with 14 branches across the North of the UK. All of their branches and head office use traditional T8 fluorescent lighting, producing very mixed results in terms of light level and warmth to encourage customers to visit the branches. Some of the branches are set back from the main high street, and as a result of the lighting levels being so poor, it was difficult to know whether a branch was open or closed. Nigel Street, the Facilities Manager for the group worked closely with their Electrical facilities supplier, CAM Electrical in order to bring the lighting levels up and improve the look and feel of all of the branches across their network. CAM brought in Novah to help improve the lighting, who recommended the use of LED panels and LED battens. All branches and head office have now been upgraded, with lux levels up to 10 times brighter in some locations, whilst the energy consumption due to lighting has fallen by 80% across the branches.

Lighting objectives

The client had little room to modify the buildings, as they are traditional shop frontages in town centres, so it was important to provide a solution that would be sympathetic to the environment, whilst bringing up the lighting quality to a modern, attractive feel.

How did Novah approach this project?

Lighting designs? Site surveys? Wholesaler demonstrations? Trials? Various site surveys and some lighting designs, where required. The relationship has allowed the client to trust in our approach and advice, giving Novah the freedom to provide the precise lighting requirements for each area, generally reducing the number of fittings and improving the overall light quality – offering great value. Novah have worked for many years with the electrical facilities team, and so understand their requirements in terms to offering the correct solution for their client base. We also provide lighting designs and return on investment reports to them to enable them to justify the spend. Where possible we provide the best controls solution to allow the client to take advantage of the additional savings this provides.

Challenges

Each building provided it’s own challenges, in terms to working with the existing infrastructure whilst finding the right fit for that site to ensure a uniform light level and comfortable working environment for the on site staff.

Novah solutions

Horizon Select Panels, Solary Select Batten

Outcomes

Increased the overall lighting levels, provided a uniform light across each site and helped to make it clear that the branches were open during opening hours. Customers and staff are much happier to be in the branches.

Customer feedback

‘Novah have provided LED lighting which has transformed our customer service centre and branches. From the street view, our branches look bright and open for business. Inside, the light is even and pleasant to work under, allowing our customers to comfortably read documents. Our staff are delighted too. Novah have been fantastic to work with and have guided us to the right solutions.’ – Nigel Street, Facilities Manager