Renewable Energy

Empowering Innova’s Growth through a Long-Term Partnership

Innova stands out as a particularly impressive success story within the UK’s rapidly growing renewable energy sector. Climate17 is proud to have partnered with Innova since 2020, helping them to scale their business, build new teams and deliver successful renewable energy projects. 

About Innova 

Innova is a forward-thinking renewable energy business, employing over 120 people across two offices in London and Cheltenham. Innova’s long-term mission is to create utility-scale renewable energy projects using multi-technologies that take large energy intensive users off-grid, positively improving the environment, and benefiting local businesses and communities.   

Innova offer a fully integrated approach to renewable energy developments and operations covering the whole life cycle of any project. This includes planning, grid connections, project rights development, financing, construction and asset management, power purchase agreements, and long-term operations.  

The company encompasses a range of innovative technologies, including solar, battery storage, green hydrogen, and advanced thermal conversion. 

Our Partnership Story

In early 2020, Innova turned to us for assistance, recognising our expertise in renewable energy recruitment. Like many renewable energy companies, Innova was concerned about talent shortages restricting their growth potential. 

The partnership was initiated by Tom Wolsey, Climate17 Director & Co-Founder, who met with Innova at their London office and subsequently assisted them in filling a particularly challenging Technical Director vacancy they had struggled with for a while. 

Following this initial success, we built a close working relationship with Innova over subsequent years, based on increasing levels of credibility and trust, gained through consistent successful delivery of challenging assignments. This led us to become their exclusive talent partner, as they rapidly scaled their business to match their growing project pipeline and the ever-evolving market opportunity in UK solar & battery storage. 

Challenges & Growth 

As Innova continued to grow throughout the years, they faced challenges in sourcing specialised talent to support their rapid expansion. The need for skilled professionals in planning, development management, engineering, project delivery, procurement and asset management became increasingly critical. With many of these being new roles to Innova, we had to source suitable individuals who were both motivated and capable of building these functions from scratch. 

Meeting Innova's growing demand required us to navigate the intricacies of today's competitive recruitment market. In this dynamic environment, successful hiring requires adept forecasting, a solid understanding and analysis of the market, and an extensive community of engaged talent. 

As Innova expanded, we strategically scaled our delivery capabilities and team of recruiters, allowing us to align closely with their evolving needs. 

Our Consultative Solutions   

By listening to Innova’s challenges and understanding their needs, we have been able to foster a close and long-lasting partnership. We have a dedicated central Account Manager who is responsible for undertaking regular performance reviews and centrally co-ordinating delivery across our specialist teams. 

In addition to this, our recruiters engage directly with Innova hiring managers, ensuring a tailored and collaborative approach. 

Our comprehensive solutions include permanent recruitment, retained search, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), and insightful market analysis.  

Together, these have allowed us to continuously find Innova the best and most diverse selection of talent, allowing Innova to reach their fullest potential. Innova benefits from the scalability and flexibility of our RPO service, whilst utilising our retained search service for harder to fill roles. 

We also undertake bespoke annual salary surveys for Innova, ensuring that they achieve pay transparency and position themselves strategically regarding compensation offerings. 

This multi-faceted approach has supported Innova's growth and enabled them to define their unique EVP (employer value proposition), as well as recruit a high volume of specialist roles throughout the years.  

The Outcomes 

  

"We have outsourced the majority of our recruitment to Climate17 over the past 4 years and they have been pivotal in ensuring the growth of our business, consistently delivering top talent for hard-to-fill positions across planning, technical, project delivery, corporate services and corporate finance. We have worked closely with them to ensure we are consistently developing our employer value proposition and positioning our business as an employer of choice to new employees, as well as retaining our existing staff." - Robin Dummett, Co-Founder & Joint CEO

Through a collaborative approach and a shared commitment towards advancing the global transition to clean energy, Climate17 has played a pivotal role in building Innova's workforce and fuelling their success in the renewable energy sector. Since 2020 and for the foreseeable future, we are proud to be Innova’s recruitment partner and continue to assist with their growth and success.

Interested in collaborating? Let’s work together to make a difference. Reach out to our team here

Other success stories

Renewable Energy

Spurring LumenHaus’ launch in Germany

LumenHaus, a leading-edge platform for smart home energy solutions, has made its presence recognised in the solar and energy storage industry in Germany. Since the beginning of 2024, we have partnered with LumenHaus to assist with acquiring distinct talent, allowing the company to initiate operations, meet business objectives, and establish themselves as a key driver of homeowners & small enterprise owners transitioning to clean energy.

About LumenHaus

Established in 2024 and operating out of Dusseldorf, LumenHaus is an innovative platform that drives the energy transition through decentralised, community-based, and sustainable energy supply. Partners and customers alike benefit from the advantages of the platform, which enables a sustainable and convenient energy future. They provide solar systems and EV storage systems which help store solar energy, manage usage, and provide blackout protection. The myLumenHaus app allows users to monitor and control their energy systems in real time, optimising energy usage with AI. LumenHaus aims to simplify green energy adoption through customisable systems for residential needs.

Partnership Initiation

Our partnership with LumenHaus was initiated by Lucas Seyda, Head of Germany at Climate17, following the successful placement of a candidate who later became an integral part of LumenHaus’ growth journey. Like many renewable energy startups, LumenHaus was concerned about being able to secure top level talent in a pool scarce of professionals and restricting their early growth. Recognising the complexity of establishing a foothold in the German market alongside our industry leading knowledge, LumenHaus sought our expertise to recruit key talent that would anchor their initial operations in Germany. Specifically, the company required critical hires, including a Senior Business Developer and a Head of HR, to drive their expansion.

Challenges and Our Consultative Solutions

LumenHaus faced several challenges as they embarked on their journey to establish a strong foothold in the German market. One of the initial hurdles was the highly specialised nature of the roles they required. With limited experience in Germany, LumenHaus needed professionals well-versed not only in the energy sector but also in the nuances of the local market. We tackled this by drawing upon our extensive network of candidates across the European energy sector. Through deep connections and a clear understanding of the industry’s competitive landscape, we quickly identified talent with the right mix of skills and knowledge, streamlining the hiring process and ensuring a high-quality match for LumenHaus’ objectives.

Another significant challenge emerged when a leading candidate dropped out just a week before the scheduled start date. Given the urgency of LumenHaus’ launch and the critical nature of the role, this sudden change could have severely impacted their timeline and business security. However, we utilised our adaptive recruitment approach to enable a swift and seamless replacement. Leveraging our robust network and close communication with both LumenHaus and potential candidates, we filled the position within the original timeframe despite the challenging setbacks, underscoring our commitment to client success.

In addition to candidate sourcing, we provided salary guidance and advised on bonus structuring. This consultative support was particularly valuable, given LumenHaus’ limited experience in the German market. We proposed a performance-based bonus structure, where incentives were tied to the creation of new partnerships, aligning well with the client’s growth-oriented goals.

Throughout this partnership, we remained committed to fostering a long-term relationship with LumenHaus, providing continuous insights into market trends and maintaining open lines of communication. This collaborative approach ensured that we could respond quickly to any evolving needs, refining their processes and solutions in real time to align with LumenHaus’ growth journey.

The Outcomes

“I have worked with Climate17 as a candidate previously and now from the client side. I would highlight Lucas’ total availability and ability to advise and guide both parties throughout all phases of the selection process.

They know the renewable sector very well and are very well connected. We will continue to rely on Climate17 for future selection processes.”HR Manager, LumenHaus

We successfully filled both roles within three weeks of our first point of contact, submitting four remarkable candidates and securing two hires on their first interview. As a result, we have maintained a strong relationship with LumenHaus, with regular communication to support the client’s ongoing recruitment needs. As LumenHaus continues to scale, we remain a trusted partner, dedicated to contributing to their mission of a sustainable energy future across Germany.

Interested in collaborating? Let’s work together to make a difference. Reach out to our team here

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Renewable Energy

Acquiring a Battery Storage Optimiser for Innova

About Innova

Innova is a pioneering renewable energy company, employing over 120 specialists across its offices in London and Cheltenham. The company is driven by a vision to deliver large-scale renewable energy projects using diverse technologies. Its core aim is to enable energy-intensive users to operate off-grid, fostering environmental sustainability and creating tangible benefits for local businesses and communities.

With expertise spanning the entire lifecycle of renewable energy projects, Innova provides a fully integrated service. This includes planning, securing grid connections, project rights development, financing, construction, asset management, power purchase agreements, and long-term operational support.

With a portfolio of cutting-edge technologies such as solar energy, battery storage, green hydrogen, and advanced thermal conversion, Innova is at the forefront of transforming the renewable energy landscape.

The Partnership

Innova engaged Climate17 to recruit a BESS Optimisation Manager, a pivotal new role essential to their vision of advancing energy flexibility solutions. Recognising our expertise in renewable energy recruitment from our extensive work and exclusive partnering with them, Innova sought not only to fill the position but also to leverage strategic insights into a niche and rapidly evolving market.

Our collaborative approach involved a detailed brief to develop Innova’s goals, ensuring alignment with their vision and team dynamics. Tom Dufaur, our leading energy flexibility consultant, worked closely with Innova to develop a tailored strategy, focusing on transferable skills and non-traditional candidate profiles. This included refining salary benchmarks and streamlining the recruitment process to meet the demands of such a specialised role.

Challenges and Our Consultative Solutions

The primary challenge in filling the BESS Optimisation Manager role stemmed from the dawning nature of the field itself. This role required expertise in a rapidly evolving market with few established benchmarks, no in-house precedent, and a limited pool of professionals possessing the necessary combination of skills.

This included knowledge of ancillary services, energy markets, and the ability to roll out tender processes for energy contracts. The small talent pool and lack of comparable roles in the market meant that we had to approach the search innovatively and strategically.

To address these challenges, we began with thorough market research and market mapping, identifying key talent sources and untapped opportunities. We developed an extensive long list of potential candidates based on transferable skills and credentials that aligned with the role’s requirements.

After collaborating closely with Innova to refine this list and consider unconventional talent pathways, we proceeded to actively engage with shortlisted candidates who matched the unique demands of the role.

This methodical and collaborative approach required additional time during the early stages but ultimately streamlined the latter phases of the process. By focusing on transferable skills and exploring non-traditional candidate profiles, we encouraged Innova to think beyond conventional boundaries, creating new opportunities to discover exceptional talent that were aligned with their vision for their optimisation team.

Additionally, Climate17 provided consultative services around salary structuring. Initially, Innova’s salary banding for the role was broad. By leveraging data from candidate discussions and understanding current salary trends in adjacent roles, we helped refine the banding to align with market expectations, ensuring the role remained attractive while meeting the company’s budgetary goals.

The Outcomes

“Tom was extremely helpful in finding our company a suitable candidate for a new role in a relatively short space of time in quite a challenging market. Tom worked in a very collaborative manner which enabled us to identify the right type of candidate for the role and bring forward the best applicants for interview.  As a result of Tom’s hard work, we’ve ended up finding a perfect match for the niche role we needed to fill.”  Innova – Head of Energy Sales

Despite the highly specialised nature of the role, we successfully identified eight suitable candidates, of whom four proceeded to first-round interviews and two to final interviews. Innova was ultimately able to secure a talented professional who aligned perfectly with their requirements to fill their BESS Optimisation Manager position. This success reinforced the value of our expertise and methodology in niche markets.

The relationship between Climate17 and Innova has evolved into an exclusive and often retained partnership, reflecting the trust and effectiveness established through this project. We continue to support Innova in their talent acquisition needs, contributing to their success as a leader in renewable energy space and leading the development of their specialised workforce.

Looking to expand your team and focus on energy flexibility? Let’s work together to make a difference. Reach out to our team here.

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