Maidston to light up jobs market via China link

Harrogate-based Maidston has been made the UK partner of ET Solar, a Chinese company which is one of the world's biggest solar panel makers.

Maidston plans to make and distribute solar panels on behalf of ET Solar from a manufacturing and distribution base near Harrogate.

Maidston managing director Michael Chater said the base could create about 12 jobs. He believed it could open by the end of 2010, provided it obtains planning permission.

Mr Chater, who has worked in manufacturing for 20 years, forged links with Nanjing-based ET Solar through a Chinese business contact.

Maidston, which has 10 staff and a turnover of about 1m, is split into two divisions – solar power and consumer electronics. It provides goods that save customers' money, and help to protect the environment, by using solar power.

The company's "eco-design power saving products" include lamps,

torches, chargers and water heating systems.

Mr Chater believes the company's turnover could increase to 5m or 6m in five years, depending on Government support for environmentally friendly technology.

He said yesterday: "There is an ever present need to reduce our CO2 footprint and conserve the world's energy resources."

ET Solar, which was one of the first solar panel manufacturers in China, trades in more than 50 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

Mr Chater added: "This is a fantastic partnership, enabling UK consumers and businesses to make significant cost and energy savings."

As part of the agreement with ET Solar, Maidston will work in partnership with an accredited group of installers to supply businesses, households and the public sector with solar panels.

Since 2002, global solar power usage has increased by 48 per cent, making it the world's fastest-growing energy technology, worth an estimated $100bn (69bn). Mr Chater, who has spent a large part of his career in the IT sector, aims to turn Maidston into a market leader in the mobile solar technology industry which can be used for laptops and mobile phones.

"We are at a very early stage in this particular industry," he

said. "It's a very exciting time."

He said the planned base near Harrogate would be a "working

demonstration of environmentally friendly technology".

He added: "Powering our electronics through alternative energy sources and using eco-design power saving products, like our socket strips, is crucial in reducing our impact on the environment.

"Using solar power, which deposits 1KW of energy per square mile, is another achievable and viable way of doing this.

"Our products enable consumers and businesses to make significant cost and energy savings."

In standby mode, household and office appliances, such as TVs and computers, consume about 50 terra watts of electricity a year in the EU. However, the new Energy-Using Products (EUPs) directive aims to cut that consumption by 73 per cent by 2020.

Earlier this year, Maidston moved its head office from London to Mr Chater's home town of Harrogate.