Supporting Pilgrim’s UK Drive to Net Zero with EV Fleet Charging

Mer has installed charging infrastructure at 12 facilities for Pilgrim’s UK as it transitions its company vehicles to EV. Mer’s work to future-proof the sites is also already proving to be the right move.

The Client

Pilgrim’s UK is Britain’s biggest producer of sustainably produced quality pork products, operating from 13 sites across the UK. Part of the Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, the company is committed to net zero for its own operations by 2030 and across its entire supply chain by 2035.

Part of this process includes transitioning its 200-strong company car fleet to plug-in vehicles. Along with the substantial investment in EV charging, other sustainability initiatives by Pilgrim’s UK include spending £600,000 at its King’s Lynn facility to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This saw the site’s fleet replaced with electric vehicles, plus upgrades to refrigeration plants and installation of LED lighting.

Pilgrim’s UK introduced a company car policy mandating all-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles to support this initiative. It wanted to install charge points at its facilities to provide on-site charging for company car drivers, as well as free charging for other employees and visitors.

The Solution

Pilgrim’s UK turned to EV charging specialist Mer to provide a phased roll-out of infrastructure across 12 sites. Mer, owned by Statkraft, Europe’s largest producer of renewable energy, has also incorporated sustainability in its strategy. Pilgrim’s UK chose Mer, recognising its extensive experience working with large companies on complex projects across multiple sites.

Mer worked with Pilgrim’s UK to overcome grid capacity challenges on some sites, which for some cases required Mer’s help with grid upgrades through its DNO partner and at others deploying Mer smart chargers with load balancing technology.

One of the benefits of working with Mer was that they future-proofed our sites.

Mer also engaged with Pilgrim’s UK to future-proof its sites, by undertaking a lot of below-ground work to make it easier and more affordable for the client to add extra EV chargers in the future. In fact, adoption of electric company cars was so fast at the company’s head office in Warwick that Mer is already installing additional charge points there.

“One of the benefits of working with Mer was that they future-proofed our sites. This means a lot of the connectivity work below ground has already been done, so we can quickly and cost-effectively add more chargers in the future. This is already being demonstrated in our expansion at Warwick and will enable us to scale up all our sites as the transition to EVs gathers pace.” – Graham Handford, Procurement Manager – Indirects, Pilgrims Shared Services