Meet the Leeds entrepreneur helping firms transition to electric vehicles and green energy

“Bus depots have a lot of power but they didn’t have enough power to charge their vehicles,” says Mr Haley, co-founder of E-Merge.

"They’d been poorly advised on what chargers would be required. They only had really small charging units, which would take 24 hours to charge a bus. It didn’t make any sense.”

Haley, 36, and his colleague, Charlotte Ward, who both had mechanical and electrical backgrounds, realised there was a gap in the market for a company to provide trusted support and guidance to businesses making their first investments in electric vehicles and renewable energy.

After working in several businesses together over the last six years, in 2023 they decided to set up Leeds-based E-Merge Group to support clients with their electric vehicle installation and infrastructure needs.

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“Whatever client we were talking to, it was evident that they were having trouble getting power to their site,” says Haley. “They had issues with the distribution network operators, like Northern Power Grid, who own the infrastructure, and the lead times were 16 weeks or 25 weeks, whatever it may be.

"We decided to move into the renewables sector as well as EV charging because the client could be self sufficient – they could have solar or battery storage and be the masters of their own destiny if they wanted to be.

He adds: "We now work with our clients to help them with any form of transition – for example from petrol or diesel to electric vehicles – without having a substantial cost added to the business and support them to be as self sufficient as possible.

“At the moment, renewable energy is very affordable for some businesses and the paybacks are really good which really helps the decision-making.”

Over the last 12 months, the company has worked with the Ministry of Defence on a project to install a large solar power system at its site in Bury. It has also worked with bus company Stagecoach and also advises a lot of lorry companies and energy brokers.

E-Merge conducts on-site power assessments, looking at a company’s current infrastructure and how it operates on a daily basis. It then maps out what type of renewable energy the business needs and the work is carried out by its network of 32 sub-contractors.

The company recently celebrated a year in business with a £1m turnover and also opened an office in Northampton.

Haley says demand for its services has been fuelled by the Government’s call for public sector organisations to prioritise EV infrastructures across their sites.

“There’s a lot of government funding to incentivise people to take that step towards electric vehicles because it’s right for the environment and it feels like it could be financially beneficial to people as well,” says Haley.

"EV isn’t going anywhere. I think other technologies will come along in the future but EV is staying. If it was made accessible, easy and affordable for all, everyone would make the switch.”

Increasing the number of public chargers is one of the key challenges in the switch from petrol and diesel cars to electric vehicles.

The UK installed a record number of public electric car chargers in 2023. Almost 16,000 public chargers were installed in the year to December 12, pushing the total above 53,200, according to the data company ZapMap. That represented a 43 per cent increase on 2022, significantly faster than the previous three years.

"There’s a lot of range anxiety,” admits Haley. “There’s around 3,000 chargers in Yorkshire which is roughly six per cent of the UK, which isn’t a lot.

“There are only 600 fast chargers in Yorkshire, which seems scary when there’s over a million cars. Where’s the infrastructure to support that? It feels like we really need to catch up.”

Looking ahead, E-Merge is investing in new software in collaboration with a small group of businesses which would enable companies to track a vehicle’s battery capacity and would also work with charging points.

Haley is also keen for the electricals side of the business to become an independent connection provider to enable the company to directly carry out infrastructure work, which he says would significantly reduce project timeframes.

In the meantime, E-Merge, which is already profitable, plans to double its turnover over the next year to £2m.

Growing up in Morley, Leeds, Haley had dreams of becoming a police officer. He completed a National Diploma in Uniformed Services at college but afterwards changed his mind and moved into bus parts, working at various companies, including Arriva Group, focusing on transport and, later, electric vehicles.

He describes himself as ‘driven’ and says his motivation to aim higher came from not having much money growing up.

"I was always thinking, I need to get out of here,” he says. “That wasn’t anything against my parents, I just wanted to get out of the estate I grew up in and do something more.

Haley, who still lives in Morley and has two daughters age 10 and seven, adds: “I wanted to be the master of my own destiny and I’ve always been quite entrepreneurial. My interest has always been in business and I love it.

"Charlotte and I are similar but also very different. She’s very client-focused. Her passion is making sure we’re doing the right thing for them. We blend together perfectly in terms of our own skill sets.”