So what is Midsummer up to in Scotland?

This is a thought-leadership contribution from Midsummer.

In terms of our role in the market, we’ve always aimed to strike a balance between keeping the friendly, flexible feel of a local branch while offering the range, reach, and expertise you’d expect from a national distributor. It’s not always easy, and we don’t pretend to always get it right, but that mix of local connection and commercial capability is what we strive for.

Anyone working in the renewables industry around 2022 will remember just how intense that period was. Just as the UK emerged from the pandemic, an energy crisis emerged in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, and demand for solar and storage went through the roof.

Midsummer tripled in size during that time, but that came with plenty of challenges. Sourcing enough stock was tough, and trying to get kits out the door fast enough from a single warehouse in Cambridge was even tougher. So, the timing felt right to open another hub, and given our existing base, it made sense to look north.

There may have been a slight bias to look quite as far north as Glasgow, with two of our directors being originally from Scotland! We found a site that was a bit rough around the edges but it had the right bones and offered plenty of space to grow into. So we went all in. Fast forward three years and the team has come a long way. The Glasgow branch now has around 30 employees, split between sales and operations. We’ve made major improvements to the building too, including a new roof and 270kW of solar to power it all.

In terms of our role in the market, we’ve always aimed to strike a balance between keeping the friendly, flexible feel of a local branch while offering the range, reach, and expertise you’d expect from a national distributor. It’s not always easy, and we don’t pretend to always get it right, but that mix of local connection and commercial capability is what we strive for.

You can’t really talk about Midsummer without mentioning our software. It’s a huge part of what we do. Built from scratch by our MD and his team, Easy PV on the solar side and Heatpunk for heat pump design have become industry game-changers. In essence, aiming to save installers time on designing, quoting, compliance and of course ordering kit so they can spend more time out winning and fitting new systems.

A big part of Midsummer’s ethos, especially among senior management, has always been about facilitating decarbonisation. With the UK grid now more than 50% powered by renewables, the next big challenge is the heating network, and that’s where heat pumps come in. It’s a complex and competitive market, with challenges at multiple levels of the industry, but we’re committed to being part of the change that needs to happen. Supporting installers with the right tools, training, and supply is how we play our part in that transition.

So where next and what’s on the agenda going forward? It’s important to note that the solar industry has not been kind to long term planning! With many of the influences in demand coming from global geopolitics, being adaptable and resilient is just as important as having a vision for the future. However there are a few areas we would like to progress in the coming years. Residential solar gets most of the public attention, and utility-scale projects grab the headlines, but the huge roofs on warehouses and factories are often overlooked. Many are ideal for solar, easy to install on, cost-effective, and crying-out to be put to good use. So making sure our software and product range work well for commercial rooftop solar is vital.

We’re also focused on strengthening relationships with local installers. When we first opened in Glasgow, most of our business came from existing customers further south, and it has taken time to engage locally in the way we had always intended to, but we are getting there. Being able to collect kit in person from our warehouse, get deliveries from Midsummer’s own dedicated fleet, or simply calling in for a coffee and chat with your account manager. These are the things that help build strong, lasting partnerships.

Perhaps that is the message to end on. If you are installing renewables in Scotland, come and say hello and see what we are about for yourself!