The Grafton Group is proud to become the first building and plumbing merchant authorised to operate as a Green Deal provider.

The Grafton Group gave their support to the government initiative in April and said its role has always been to support installers in gaining the Green Deal Quality Mark and other qualifications needed to install energy efficiency products and comply with Green Deal standards.

Through their nationwide network of over 500 building and plumbing branches, The Grafton Group will now be able to support the market in supplying the full range of Green Deal approved product.

They will also be able to assist their installer customers in new ways including finance, training and accreditation. All of its businesses, including Buildbase, Plumbase, Selco and Jackson Building Centres, have specialists to advise on suitable products for the RMI markets. These include traditional products like boilers, heating controls and insulation, including internal and external solid wall insulation.

Paul Roche, director of sustainability and renewables at The Grafton Group said: “There are exciting opportunities within the Green Deal and ECO and we are working hard to identify these and develop systems that will enable these to be realised. There are many market opportunities and we are developing solutions that will work for all our partners - SME installers, larger Social Housing installers and product manufactures. The key to any successful strategy is implementation and the critical element of that is the installer.”