Chris Rodgers raises £2.25m private equity for relaunch

Skelmersdale-based Chris Rodgers (Home and Energy) has relaunched as CR Energy following a £2.25m cash investment by Mosaic Private Equity.

CR Energy emerged out of Christopher Rodgers Limited, the architect and surveyor which has been placed into administration with the loss of 30 jobs.

CRL went into administration on 13 February and Grant Thornton UK were appointed as the administrators. Chief executive Chris Rodgers set up the firm in 1981 and said its administration followed a gradual winding down of the business over the past 12 months as the separate energy arm grew.

Rodgers said: "Following the downturn in the valuation and architectural sectors, the decision has been made to close Christopher Rodgers Ltd. CRL has been reducing its workforce through planned redundancies over a 12-month period and no new instructions have been accepted since 9 February 2009. The management team at CRL considered the closure very carefully and the redundancies were made as a very last resort."

At CR Energy, Neil Laycock, former chief executive of BT-owned Internet service provider PlusNet, has been appointed as sales and marketing director following the deal with Mosaic.

Rodgers added: "The closure of CRL will in no way affect the future of CR Energy, however, which is an entirely separate company employing over 100 members of staff. This business has huge profit potential and the directors, most of which are unconnected with CRL, will be focussed on the growth of the energy performance market."

CR Energy said it had grown in the last six months on the back of new legislation governing energy reduction in commercial and domestic buildings. The firm has produced energy performance certificates for 50,000 homes to date, as well as hundreds of commercial buildings.

PlusNet's customer base grew from 194,000 to 300,000 during the 18 months Laycock was in charge.