Looking for an alternative to CIF funding? Utility Rentals can help!
Don’t waste time applying for CIF funding which your school isn’t even guaranteed to receive. Utility Rentals can help you to acquire LED lighting immediately, with no upfront cost!
More and more schools across the UK are becoming increasingly aware of the incredible savings they could achieve simply by upgrading to LED lighting. Yet whilst the majority of schools agree that making the change is a project they need to undertake, securing the funding isn’t always easy, especially for academies and sixth-form colleges.
Most academies and sixth-form colleges probably think that the main route to sourcing the necessary budget is through the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), but fortunately, with the LED lighting rental package available from us here at Utility Rentals, that’s no longer the case. Although CIF does support energy efficient projects for academies and sixth-form colleges (multi-academy trusts cannot apply) its core priority is keeping ‘academy and sixth-form buildings safe and in good working order’. The ‘Condition Improvement Fund – Information for applicants’ document published by the Education Funding Agency states that ‘we will give the highest priority to condition projects that address compliance and health and safety issues. These include fire protection systems, electrical safety or emergency asbestos removal. We then give priority to projects that ensure weather tight buildings and continuous heating and water supply’ – ultimately meaning that upgrading to LED lighting isn’t exactly at the top of the list! Yet unfortunately it’s not just the type of project that’s stacking the odds against you. The document also states that ‘CIF 2015 to 2016 was 4 times oversubscribed. It is expected that there will be similarly high levels of demand this year. Only applicants which demonstrate a high project need and align closely with the priorities of CIF are likely to be successful.’
Even if you still want to take your chances, it is worth noting that applying for CIF isn’t always straightforward. It often involves a complicated application process which can be stressful, not to mention time consuming for school staff. It can take months to get a definitive response and even after all of that, there are no guarantees your application will even be successful! All the while, the academy or sixth form college is left with its existing poor quality, inefficient lighting that’s costing your school money it ultimately doesn’t need to be spending!
Luckily, at Utility Rentals we’re here to help; we’ve developed a unique rental package which enables the whole of the UK’s education sector to upgrade to LED lighting with no upfront cost – allowing your school to benefit from the savings immediately! Rentals can be structured over a 3 or 5 year period and in most cases the rental payments can be paid for using the savings generated. The rental includes installation and commissioning of the new LED lighting and we’ll even remove and dispose of your existing bulbs and light fittings in line with the WEEE directive. Plus, we also include a 5 year parts warranty as standard, so even if a bulb fails during the rental, your school won’t have to pay a penny to replace it.
Unlike applying to CIF the process of switching to LED lighting through Utility Rentals couldn’t be simpler! Firstly, we’ll book a free energy audit whereby we’ll visit your school to count and record the lights you currently have in place. We’ll then send you a lighting design and saving’s proposal for your consideration. Then, if you wish to proceed, we’ll plan installation of your new LED lighting at a time that best suits you. Although, this doesn’t just have to take place during holiday periods, as our engineers will work after school hours covering off a classroom or area at a time, whilst leaving things immaculately for the next day – you won’t even know we’ve been! Apart from your brand new lighting of course! 🙂
If you want to learn more about how your school could benefit from better light quality, reduced maintenance and incredible energy savings by upgrading to LED lighting, contact us today on 01628 667373 – we’ll be more than happy to discuss our rental package with you!
