Marshalls’ sustainability drive
Unlocking potential: AMR training supports Marshalls’ sustainability drive
24 March 2025 Reading time: 3 minutes
“Having Business Stream’s advice and expertise when it comes to saving water has been invaluable. With AMRs installed across most of our sites, we can be confident that we’re in control of our consumption and our costs. And being given the tools and training to understand and do more in the water efficiency space further supports our goal to operate sustainably.”
Background
Marshalls plc is the UK’s leading hard landscaping, building and roofing products supplier in Yorkshire. The Group’s three main market areas are New Build Housing, Commercial and Infrastructure, and Private Housing (repair, maintenance and improvement).
Business Stream has been providing water and waste water services to Marshalls since 2017, including value-added solutions such as water efficiency support. What began in the Yorkshire region has since expanded, with Business Stream now servicing 25 of Marshalls’ sites across England and Scotland.
The challenge
As part of Marshalls’ vision of ‘Building Tomorrow’s World’, and their commitment to operating sustainably, Marshalls has been prioritising water management across their estate, identifying opportunities to reduce water consumption and improve efficiency.
As an initial response to this, Business Stream has installed 29 automated meter reader (AMR) units across Marshalls’ sites since 2023, to help track consumption and allow them to identify any unusual spikes in water use straight away.
AMRs are small devices that send meter readings in 15-minute intervals to a centralised point via either a wired or wireless connection to provide almost real-time data.
AMRs require no physical intervention from the customer, with data accessible 24/7, 365 days a year. This allows businesses and their water retailers to remotely monitor water usage and quickly identify any issues that may arise.
To build on this, as water plays a fundamental part in the provision of Marshalls’ products and services, the company looked to Business Stream to advise on additional water saving measures they could adopt as part of their ongoing commitment to being a sustainable business.
The solution
As a solution to this, Business Stream provided Marshalls with AMR training to support them in better understanding the data outputs available to utilise the information being gathered.
Through AMR technology, Business Stream can proactively alert Marshalls to any unusual changes in their consumption. And through the training, Marshalls are now equipped with the tools and knowledge required to monitor and analyse the data themselves, including running reports and interpreting the data in a way that enables them to spot any opportunities to be more efficient and reduce their usage.
Results
Aside from the installation of AMR units supporting Marshalls to be more in control of their water usage, the additional AMR training has enabled Marshalls to cleanse their meter portfolio by identifying meters which would benefit from being re-located, or those which have no recent consumption. In addition, it’s helping them to quickly spot any sudden or unexpected spikes in their consumption that they can either remedy themselves, like a running tap or an open valve, or seek prompt support from Business Stream to address any issues.
Given the success of the AMR rollout to date, Business Stream is installing additional units so that Marshalls can gather further data across even more of their sites.
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