Case Study: Laithwaites Wine, Gloucester

Laithwaites Wine

760.95 kWp (1710 panel) installation

Providing 42% of their annual electricity consumption from the roof

When Laithwaites Wine, part of the Direct Wines group, first got in touch with Mypower in December 2019, its objective was simple enough: to promote sustainability across the whole site and to improve its green credentials. Over the course of a number of years, as the energy markets changed, the building’s infrastructure was upgraded, the landlords changed and there was a thorough technical examination, the project developed into a financially vital strategy

In April 2026 the 760.95 kWp solar PV system, made up of 1,710 solar panels, was installed by Mypower on Laithwaites’ existing Euroclad SF500 Secret Fix metal roof at its Gloucester HQ. The installation was completed in less than six weeks after final approval had been obtained, and it brings about immediate improvements in cash flow, guards against fluctuations in the energy markets, and ensures substantial operational savings for many decades ahead.

The challenges

The time it usually takes for companies of this size to go from the start of their engagement to completion is six to nine months, but Laithwaites’ case became one of Mypower’s most complicated approval routes.

Changes in operations and market

Laithwaites installed a new fully automated layer palletising system with a multi-lane accumulation system to handle increased customer demand. While boosting productivity, it significantly raised on-site electricity consumption.
By July 2023, electricity prices had reached historic highs—nearly four times 2020 levels. With Laithwaites’ three-year fixed electricity contract expiring in November 2023, solar PV shifted from a sustainability preference to an urgent financial priority.

Landlord change and working with multiple stakeholders for review

In 2024/2025, when the landlord changed, a full reassessment and resubmission of the project became necessary. The new landlord then engaged Hollis Global, an independent real estate and sustainability consultant, to carry out thorough due diligence, which led to about 50 detailed technical, structural, legal, and safety questions that Mypower answered directly.

Technical excellence & risk mitigation - RC62 compliance

Mypowers strong experience in risk mitigation and familiarity with designing a high spec system enabled us to secure the project sign off. This included approvals from the landlord, structural engineers, building surveyors, building control, DNO, legal teams, and insurers.

Roof Integrity & Warranty

From the initial visit, Mypower picked up this was a less common curved profile roof. Through our usual diligent investigations back in 2019 (that still remains core to our approach today) we identified this was a Euroclad SF500 Secret Fix system. We further discovered this was a showcase “State-of-the-art warehouse and distribution” building when constructed around 18 years ago and was featured in the MCRMA article on
Sense and Sustainability. Noting its age and likelihood of still having a roof warranty, we opened discussions with Euroclad.

It became apparent that to preserve this warranty and as good practice we would need to procure additional fixing clamps direct from Euroclad. Despite the additional cost of materials of almost £30,000 for 5,600 specific clamps, plus significant additional labour for installation, we strongly recommended to the client that these additional products were purchased to preserve the integrity and warranty of the roof.

Having established a suitable clamp for this profile, we worked with Sunfixings, our mounting system partner for over 15 years, to produce a suitable and complete mounting system to attach the solar panels to the roof. As with all of our projects, full site specific design and loading calculations were carried out for this mounting system as was an independent structural check of the suitability of the building.

Fire Safety

Mypower thoroughly reviewed the comprehensive RC62 documentation to ensure full compliance examples include; installing dual-glass modules that are ethically sourced and fully traceable, together with a SolarEdge-optimised system featuring arc detection, a rapid DCI response, and the ability to integrate directly with the fire alarm panel so that the PV array can be s hut down if the panel is triggered.

Our two highly skilled and qualified in-house electricians with hundreds of commercial solar installations under their belts designed, installed and connected the 858 optimisers to the SolarEdge inverters through 14,000 metres of specialist solar cable. This was all then fed into Laithwaites electrical distribution system and connected into the sophisticated SolarEdge fire alarm gateway and monitoring platform.

Health & Safety Quality & Compliance - Some of the many Installation Challenges

Mypower acted as Principal Contractor under the CDM regulations. Our SMSTS qualified site supervisor and onsite project manager who has been with Mypower for 16 years, ran an efficient project, meeting all H&S requirements. He was supported by an in-house roof installation team of 5 experienced employees including two who are SSSTS qualified, together with a further 4 man team of fully trained and highly experienced subcontractors that have worked on and off with Mypower for several years.

Lifting an 800kg pallet of fragile solar panels 18m onto a bespoke designed scaffold loading bay using a telehandler was a significant technical and safety challenge. Doing it successfully almost 50 times is testament to the capability of the team.

Mypower avoids point load crane lifts of pallets of panels onto the roof where possible, to respect the structural integrity of the building. To ensure no operational disturbance to this busy warehouse, we reduced loading bays down to just two, located at the western end of the building.

“This required the team to hand carry 1710 panels, each 22kg, measuring 1.8m x 1.1m, on a curved, steep in parts, metal roof. Many journeys were over the entire 140m length of the building at almost 20m off the ground, where the wind blows more strongly. Combined with the other 30,000 plus individual components to make up the system, this installation commands the utmost of respect from me and the rest of the Mypower Team” quoted Ben Harrison Chartered Surveyor and Managing Director of Mypower after being interviewed
high up on the roof.

Mypower’s rigorous internal quality and compliance installation checks came to the fore. Hollis, the Landlord’s specialist consultant undertook several checks and inspections throughout the entire process including site visits, all requirements were fully met and the project signed off.

Operations & Maintenance

The design includes the fitting of a permanent external ring ladder to the access the roof, a Horizontal Lifeline System to the building, and incorporated walkways in order to ensure full long-term maintainability.

From solar arrays to fine rosés

The Laithwaites Wine installation highlights Mypower’s end-to-end commercial consultancy approach. Mypower guided the client through shifting business priorities, navigating intricate landlord due diligence, and delivering a 1,710-panel system to the highest specification in under six weeks. By doing this, Laithwaites now have greater energy resilience and reduced reliance on grid electricity, lower operational costs, and a substantial reduction in carbon footprint. An installation story so impressive it attracted national media
attention, featuring on the BBC homepage, BBC Points West TV, and BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

“Commercial solar has become a board-level decision. Businesses are no longer looking purely at sustainability benefits – they are looking for certainty, resilience and protection from future energy price shocks whilst enhancing the asset value of their property.”

Ben Harrison MRICS, Managing Director of Mypower.

Our suppliers and materials

1710 panels: JA Solar.
5 inverters: SolarEdge Technologies.
858 optimisers: SolarEdge Technologies.
25,000 fixing components: Sunfixings Ltd.
5,600 clamps: Euroclad Group Ltd.
14km of solar cable: Cableworld Ltd.

Over 33,000 individual components were fitted on the roof along with 14,000 metres of cables.

“We are grateful to the team at Mypower for installing our solar system. The nature of our premises meant various levels of approval had to be obtained before the install was signed off, and Mypower met every question and consideration with professionalism, doing their due diligence from the very start.”

Loreta Landray, Health & Safety Manager of Laithwaites Wine.

Key facts and predictions

760.95 kWp (1,710 panels) installed.
744,390 kWh of energy produced per annum.
£133,677 projected first year income and savings
28.8% projected first year return on capital invested, before capital allowance benefits.
4.04p/kWh - the equivalent forward purchase price of 17.1 million units of electricity over 25 years including estimated operating & maintenance costs.
3.5 years - system payback before finance, tax and capital allowance and grant benefit.
£4,174,059 - a 25-year income and savings after indexation.
82% saving from solar PV electricity compared to grid supplied electricity at 22p/kWh.
154 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided per annum.

“It is safe to say that this has been one of my most challenging installations yet, but I have great appreciation for the Mypower team coming together to get it over the line. It was a pleasure working with the Laithwaites team for the duration of the project, and we are delighted with the system's performance so far. The result of everyone's hard work is a high-performing 1,710-panel system that meets 42% of their annual electricity demand and serves as a long-term asset for their business."

Tom Sivil, Project Manager at Mypower.