Christophe Williams, CEO of Naked Energy:

“This news is definitely a positive sign, but it’s another thing altogether to actually get something in place. Whilst this is a strong signal of intent from Starmer, we shouldn’t get too excited until we see a final deal agreed.”

“Hardware and manufacturing businesses like us were deeply affected by Brexit. Our solar thermal technology is designed in Britain, but the main manufacturing hub is in Italy and over 90% of our materials come from the continent.

“Brexit generated a lot more friction in getting goods in and out of the country. Given we’re an internationally-focused business with customers in Germany, and considering a German office, this has been a major challenge.

“The dream result of this partnership would be more regulatory alignment with Germany and the EU. This will make it much easier to get access to facilities, secure soft funding and buy the necessary equipment to accelerate our rollout. 

“Regulatory alignment will help us develop more projects that rely on British manufacturing. We’ve just signed a deal with E.ON, the German utility company, and getting the UK and Germany on the same page will allow us to deliver our tech at scale. This will create British jobs and domestic growth while also helping to accelerate net zero.

“It will also help with European domestic security. Energy prices are set to increase by 10% here in the UK, and energy independence is a must going forward. If we can increase European cooperation when it comes to renewable energy, we’ll boost the continent’s security as well as its economy.”

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