What We Do

Reuse Electrical Services have been serving the West Midlands from their Halesowen base for the past 25 years. When they made the move into renewables, their solution was to set up a new business: Maisum Renewable Energy Ltd. “We started Maisum in 2022 because it made sense to have a company dedicated exclusively to that sector,” says Sue Hanks, the company’s administrative assistant. “As well as solar, we’re also offering wind turbine and soon we hope to add heat pump installations to our services. Setting up the new company demonstrated just how serious we were about wanting to go green.” In order to “practice what we preach,” says Sue, our next plan is to upgrade the green credentials of own own premises. To make our offices greener by installing onsite solar power – and we will be introducing electric vans to our fleet.” As Reuse, the business already uses Easy MCS to support their MCS Certification. “We’re hoping we can move everything over to Maisum – all the certification and so on – with just a change of name. I’m sure Easy MCS will help.” Getting MCS Certification was a challenge, says Sue. “It was like the blind leading the blind. We were inexperienced in this and I couldn’t believe the complexity of the documentation. You don’t realise what’s involved until you go through that process. It was only when we started talking to Easy MCS that we realised we were way out of our depth. Much better than doing it on our own.” Sue and the team discovered Easy MCS just prior to their MCS certification assessment when one of their own sub-contractors recommended them. “We couldn’t have got through the process without them, to be honest. Easy MCS not only helped us get through the accreditation but continues to help us now. Uploading the documents is time consuming but everything is one place.” Sue is still a big fan of the service. “If I have a question, I know I’ll get an answer immediately. It’s such an easy portal to use. Our account manager is Tamara Bainbridge, who is always at the end of the phone or email. Nothing is too much trouble for her and I highly recommend anyone to use Easy MCS. The new company is already dealing with customer requests from much further afield than its West Midlands base. “The Channel Islands is probably the furthest we’ve travelled so far.” Maisum is handling requests for a mix of commercial, industrial, and domestic business, with solar for domestic installations the most popular at the moment. Micro wind turbines, EV charging are also part of the portfolio, with plans to add heat pumps in the near future. Overall, Sue is optimistic about the future. “We’re doing pretty well,” she says. “We’re not the cheapest, but we have a high standard that we work to. We deliver the best quality we can.” So far, it’s a formula that’s working.

“Demand is huge at the moment,” says Louise Bennett of TB Electrics. The 15-strong company – split into admin, design, and site teams – has been around for two decades and has witnessed the accelerating transition to renewable energy sources first hand. Based in Warrington, just off the M50, the company serves most of the North-West of England, up to 90 miles from their base. “Renewables are becoming more and more part of what we do,” says Louise. “Solar, EV charging, LED lighting, energy efficiency products…it’s all gone a bit mad!” For the past 11 years, TB Electrics has subscribed to Easy MCS for support with their MCS Certification. “We’ve always been NICEIC approved,” says Louise, “so it was a natural step for us to get MCS Certification, to prove that we work to the right standard.” “We knew that the MCS standards were – and are – quite in depth. Easy MCS makes sure that we have everything that we need and that we’re doing everything properly. They’re a real helping hand.” Louise sees other benefits from the long-standing relationship that TB Electrics has built with Easy MCS. “They’re a one-stop shop you can refer to when you need help. You’ve got someone to call and all the documents you need are all in one place. We also use the service to collate all our training.” “Basically, if we didn’t have Easy MCS, when it came to assessment and inspection, we’d risk being out of sync with MCS requirements. Something could change – like standards or processes – and we might not know about it. Easy MCS keeps us up to date.” And is membership worth the fee? “Yes. Just for the peace of mind. It gives you all the forms, documents, and procedures you need. All in one place.”

For the past 16 years we’ve been a traditional heating company, built around gas central heating,” says Amy Mooney, Managing Director of Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s GasAngel. “But, because the way the industry’s moving, we knew we had to shift towards renewables. We made a decision that we wanted to be part of the solution.” Initially, the 6-strong team that serves the North-East started to offset carbon by planting trees. More recently, they’ve moved towards installing heat pumps. “We’ve put all our engineers through the necessary heat pump qualifications,” says Amy. “Now we’re concentrating on design…it’s crucial.” “When we realised we needed MCS Certification, we also quickly realised what a minefield it is. At first I wanted to do everything ourselves, including designing our own QMS. It was just utterly time-consuming. I felt like I’d have to turn it into a full time job for at least six months!” The team carried out a thorough online search to find help and asked other people in the trade to recommend an organisation that could provide the kind of support they needed. “Nearly everyone said Easy MCS were the go-to solution,” says Amy. The personal recommendations chimed with her own instincts, based on what she could see were the available options. “We got especially good feedback on the Easy MCS QMS,” says Amy. “It really has enabled us to work at our own pace to make sure we feel confident that we’re doing everything right.” Amy particularly likes the Installer Toolkit that comes bundled with GasAngel’s subscription to Easy MCS. “It’s really intuitive. Everything’s all in one place and easy to use.” “The other feature I like about Easy MCS is that when you contact them, someone always picks up the phone. The QMS is good and they’re there to help and guide you when needed.” As GasAngel prepares to move with the times and become as successful in renewables as it has been in gas, Amy is glad she chose Easy MCS as a support partner. “Easy MCS is tried and tested. It works. But we’re still in charge of the work. We’re still in control.”