Eight commercial retail sites operated by UK Mercedes-Benz dealership Rygor are expected to beenfit from £95,000 annual savings after switching to the latest LED lighting systems.

The move is expected to reduce carbon emissions by of 980 tonnes and deliver an overall energy cost saving of £648,514 over the term of the contract.

Swansway Group has also invested more than £300,000 to replace all the light bulbs across its business with LED units - the move is expected to contribute to cost savings of around £1 million.

Rygor's switch to LEDs was implemented by Journey Energy Solutions (Journey).

Journey deemed the lighting at three sites Rygor sites - Heathrow, Swindon and Westbury – as "unfit for purpose", highlighting its need for frequent costly replacements.

However, the scope of the scheme was expanded to include Chilcompton, Kidderminster, Newbury, Nuneaton and Oxford.

Car retailers could be compelled to turn out the showroom lights and accelerate decarbonisation as energy price rises start to impact margins, AM has been told.

Stuart Gemmell, facilities and health and safety manager at Rygor Group, said: “Our ageing lighting systems didn’t provide the quality of lighting that we required, our workshops were quite gloomy.

“The upgrades have transformed our working environments, making it easier for staff to operate efficiently. The staff are certainly benefiting and the feedback they have provided us with has been extremely positive.

“It almost goes without saying that we are also delighted with the massive contribution that the new lighting will make to our carbon emissions reduction strategy. In fact, it’s going to be a major milestone on our way to becoming a Net Zero business.”

In a recent opinion piece, Terry Reeves, operations director at Journey, explores how car dealers can ride the storm of soaring energy prices.

Journey has also been contracted for six years to provide ongoing service and maintenance support.

To help dealers on the path to energy savings and carbon reduction, Journey has launched a free, downloadable guide - ‘The Journey to Net Zero - How to cut costs, save energy and deliver decarbonisation: a guide for motor dealers’.