Dragons’ Den pair provide boost for solar firm that hopes to double sales

The firm, which sold a 25 per cent to Dragons’ Den stars Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis in an episode shown on Sunday, added 10 staff this year, taking it to 37.

Turnover is expected to reach £5m for the 12 months to September, up from £2.6m for the same period last year.

Chris Hopkins, the managing director, said: “Apart from their excellent reputation in the world of business, Deborah and Theo are trusted household names. This was very important to me, as I want Ploughcroft to grow to become the household name of choice for solar and renewable energy installations.”

Ploughcroft was set up in 1997 by Mr Hopkins and his father, Bill, as a traditional domestic building and roofing business.

When the older man retired six years ago, his son bought him out and opened an eco-roof centre in Brighouse, where schools, colleges and environmentalists could see demonstrations of solar panels.

The firm’s NVQ is used in 11 construction colleges in the UK and has been accredited by City and Guilds, the awarding body.

Under the feed-in tariff, which came in on April 1 and is known as clean energy cashback, the owners of properties can receive up to £1,000 a year for small-scale, environmentally-friendly power generation.

If they understand the technology and can successfully harness the electrical power that the panels produce, then the return on the investment could be as much as 10 per cent, said Mr Hopkins – far greater than the low rates of interest on offer from high street banks.

Generating green power domestically has soared up the political agenda since David Cameron, then leader of the Opposition, had a wind turbine installed on the roof of his London home.

The cultural shift which began under Labour has continued since the coalition Government was formed and Mr Hopkins said this had been reflected in their sales.

Mr Hopkins left Dragons Den with a £120,000 investment in return for a 25 per cent stake in Ploughcroft.

Ploughcroft is the parent brand for Ploughcroft Building Services, Ploughcroft Solar and Ploughcroft Training.