Hi all,
I can see there is a lot of discussion going on around Somar.
I recently found another company called Enigin (www.enigin.com). They are similar to Somar but offer a wider energy saving solution including energy metering, employee awareness and energy saving products such as lighting, AC controls, motor controls and refrigeration controls. Their marketing and branding is very strong however I am not sure about the solutions. I was considering becoming a dealer. Has anyone heard of them? Can anyone give any advice/ oppinion? I am not that much of a technical person.

Thank you very much!

Ian wrigley is a director, he is one of the owners of Somar who produce Powerboss.

I would avoid if I were you!

Interesting.
Are you saying that Ian Wrigley is CURRENTLY the director of Somar?

See this thread, that makes for an interesting take on his comments if that is the case.
http://www.lmpforum.com/inforum/Enigin-t1827.html

That link doesnt work

Regards

Due to comments posted on this thread, we would like to set the record straight. Ian Wrigley has not been actively involved in Somar for the last three years and resigned from his position as a Director. Also, Somar has recently been the subject of a company restructure and existing management buyout.

Enigin is a completely seperate company to Somar with entirely different objectives. Anyone genuinely interested in finding out more about the business should visit www.enigin.net.

Best Regards

Enigin Plc

According to companies house, Ian Wrigley is a director of the following:

OGGYCO1 LIMITED 05881544 Director Company is dissolved 12/09/2006
MERIDIAN SOUTH WEST LIMITED 05881327 Director Company's age is less than 18 months 12/09/2006
MERIDIAN SOUTH WEST LIMITED 05881327 Company Secretary Company's age is less than 18 months 01/03/2007
OGGYCO2 LIMITED 05881326 Director Non trading 12/09/2006
SOMAR TECHNOLOGY LIMITED 04583688 Director Active 25/11/2002
SOMAR TECHNOLOGY LIMITED 04583688 Company Secretary Active 25/11/2002
SOMAR HOLDINGS LIMITED 04067859 Director Active 12/12/2000
SOMAR HOLDINGS LIMITED 04067859 Company Secretary Active 12/12/2000
SOMAR INTERNATIONAL LTD 02682071 Director Active 06/02/1991

He also owns 50% of Somar Technology who own around 80% of Somar International who produce Powerboss.

Enigin, some questions:

1) The motor controller you sell, is that Powerboss or a product rebranded and produced by Somar?
2) is the lighting controller produced by somar?
3) What business agreements (if any) or what dealings do you have with Somar?

Regards

Huh, works for me. Are you copying and pasting or are you just clicking on it? it is a closed topic, meaning no more comments can be added, but you should still be able to read it.

No I cant read the link. Can you cut & paste his comments onto this thread, I would be interested in reading them.

Thank you

Hello Expbuser

That thread and it's contents are not available. It was removed by request and general consensus.
We do not want discussions to degenerate into personal comments etc.

Best regards,

Sorry, I didn't understand that Marke. I'll watch out for that in the future.

Dear EXPBUSER,

The information you have posted does not show the complete picture and is now out of date. I have not been actively involved with Somar International for some three years and during this time there has been a complete company restructure to pave the way for an exit strategy for the two founder directors/shareholders, one of which is me. The restructure was completed openly and above board. All the financial and legal matters were carried out by the company's accountants and legal advisors (no less than one would expect from a credible organisation). Furthermore the Inland Revenue with full up-front disclosure and agreement also approved the whole re-structure, which is a requirement in the UK. Subsequently we sold our controlling shareholding in Somar International Ltd to the MBO team. I have resigned as a director and I no longer have any influence over the business.

I personally own a 50% shareholding in Meridian South West ltd, which is a commercial property company. Other companies that are listed at Companies House with me as a director are either part of the original Somar Group or were formed to facilitate the restructure.

I have very few regrets over my time as a director of Somar. The company is professional and ethical and has achieved considerable success during its sixteen years of trading. Powerboss products have been awarded numerous very credible technology and innovation awards and have been successfully installed in some of the largest blue chip companies in the world. Somar have received letters of accreditation, testimonials and authentic monitoring results to prove the efficacy of their products. Of course, no company is perfect, and Somar has responded to the need to improve the effectiveness of its products and marketing message over the last sixteen years and I am sure it will continue to do so. If you wish to know the real reason why many distributors of energy saving products fail please contact Enigin to receive a FREE white paper entitled "What are the Critical Success Factors for Starting a New Business - Especially in The Energy Saving Business"

However, I must confirm that there is no connection whatsoever between Somar International Ltd. and Enigin PLC. This includes no technology transfer, commercial liaison, sharing of information, and certainly no legal or financial interdependence.

Moreover, Enigin has a totally different approach to Somar. I think this fact is easy to see if you take the time to read ALL the information we make available rather than quickly scanning a few web pages. To make it easier for you, I will reproduce some information which is readily available in our company brochures and which can be downloaded from www.enigin.net

Enigin promote a four step energy saving program; EnergyMaps. It has been designed as a total energy saving solution and is primarily targeted at SME’s, many of whom want to get control of their energy costs but cannot afford a full time energy manager. This program follows a tried and tested approach to energy management that is endorsed by all credible engineers throughout this industry. It also comes with a guarantee and easy payment plan. The four steps are as follows:

1. Automatic Monitoring & Targeting (aM&T) - It has been said you can’t manage what you can’t measure, so our first step is to install a sophisticated energy monitoring system; Eniscope (We have developed this solution in conjunction with two UK Technology Partners, neither of whom are Somar). Eniscope will take different forms depending on the size of the customer (i.e. single/multiple meters), but essentially it provides REAL TIME and LOGGED information on their actual energy consumption. This information can be accessed via our meter’s inbuilt web server on any web browser and therefore any PC, laptop or mobile that is connected to the internet. Although we can measure over 150 different energy parameters we focus on the areas that mean something to SME owners; kW, Cost & Carbon. We display this information in an uncomplicated format making it easy to act upon. Of course, information (of itself) will not save energy; it is only of benefit if you use it. However, according to the Carbon Trust in the UK this type of technology can save up to 25% in energy costs
http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/..._Technology.pdf. Anyone that wishes is welcome to request a free web-demo from Enigin.

It is worth noting that from this point in the EnergyMaps program everything we do for our customers is transparent, they can now see what is happening to their energy and whether our strategies are effective or not. We feel this is a very open and fair way to conduct business.

2. Staff Motivation and Awareness – While many have a tendency to focus on the equipment that uses energy when implementing efficiency measures, it is often people who decide how this equipment is used. Changing the attitudes and behaviors of staff can be a very effective way of saving energy, so it forms the second milestone of our program. When someone decides to turn something OFF it represents a 100% energy saving and no retro-fit product can compete with that. We have developed our own staff motivation and awareness initiative – E-Centive. It aims to provide, not just awareness as to how to save energy, but the motivation to take action. People respond to different incentives; recognition, feel-good factor, money, awards, prizes. We use psychometric assessments to map each staff members thinking and we then tailor an awareness campaign that they are more likely to be personally motivated by. For an example of an aspect of E-Centive, please go to our new online community site at www.EnergySavingPeople.com. We are a new company, so this community is in its embryonic stages but we are sure businesses will find features like our Energy Saving Idea Selector Tool (Under Energy Saving) very useful in learning about no/low cost approaches to energy saving. According to the Energy Institute in the UK, staff motivation and awareness can save 10-15% of the annual energy bill http://www.energyinst.org.uk/content/files/8staff.pdf.

3. Audit Report & Recommendations – Part way into the EnergyMaps program we undertake a comprehensive audit. This audit confirms the savings that have already been achieved via Eniscope & E-Centive which focus on helping the customer to maximize on no/low cost saving opportunities. The audit also utilizes the long term data logged by Eniscope (which includes a topographical style MAP of their usage) to identify trends and anomalies in our customers’ energy consumption and recommend strategies for further reductions. In addition, we can take this opportunity to recommend load side products that will deliver additional savings. To elaborate, as part of our audit we will assess a variety of applications where there may be opportunities for savings via retro-fit energy saving products. Applications might include Air Conditioning, Lighting, Motors & Refrigeration. Using energy analyzers and audit calculators we can determine in advance whether an acceptable payback is likely to be achieved i.e. within 2 years.

We have a range of products that fall into generic categories including ACES (A/C) LESS (Lighting) CUES (Refrigeration) iMEC (Motors). Some categories have more than one product. For example, within the LESS range we can recommend Ceiling Occupancy Sensors, Wall-mounted Motion Sensors, Outdoor & Long Range Motion Sensors, Daylight Dimming Ballasts, Combined Occupancy & Daylight Dimming Sensors, Dimmers, Zero Maintenance LED Emergency Exit Signs, Small Fluorescent Fittings and this is shortly to be augmented by High Bay Lighting Fixtures. These products are primarily manufactured in Europe by an OEM who produces for the likes of Philips and Osram. They are proven to typically save between 30-50% of lighting costs. Our iMEC range includes two key products, one for Speed Control when motor can be slowed down the other for Torque Control when dealing with fixed speed applications. We are working with two UK based technology partners in each area. They have been manufacturing motor controls since the early 80’s. On the right applications you can enjoy a two year payback using these products, but you must target the right applications.

Of course it is necessary protect our Technology Partner relationships, which is part of the reason we disclose a limited amount of information on our public facing sites.

The results of our audit are collated into a report highlighting the savings already made, additional no/low cost saving opportunities, recommendations for any energy saving products that are predicted to deliver a payback within 2 years and longer term saving opportunities.

4. Guarantee & Pay-As-You-Save – Our customer is under no obligation to buy any products from us. If they wish they can simply take the information from the audit report and locate their own solutions. However, they can take advantage of our guarantee and pay-as-you-save option. Under this arrangement we will install and commission all of the products highlighted in the audit report that are predicted to deliver a two year payback and we will guarantee a 25% return on the investment in these solutions. If the products do not deliver a 25% ROI then Enigin will pay the difference – no questions asked. A guaranteed 25% ROI is very hard to find anywhere so we believe this represents a unique opportunity for our clients to eliminate the risk associated with such an investment. What’s more we make it easy for them to purchase this composite product solution by allowing them to pay for it in monthly installments using the savings that are being generated by the solution.

I trust this information helps to clarify for you and any other user of this forum that we are a completely different entity to Somar with an entirely different approach.

Talking of approach, Mark Empson, a well respected engineer who administrates this Forum, made an interesting observation regarding how to approach energy saving. He said:

‘You can only save part of the energy that is being wasted.
First step, determine where energy is being wasted and how much.
Second step, determine if there is an easy may of reducing the wastage. - can be procedural or technology based.
Third step determine cost of saving energy, how much will be saved and potential payback period.
Fourth step, convince customer that this is worth doing.’

If you look at the Enigin approach as described above, we follow a very similar formula. To summarize:

First step, use Eniscope to determine where energy is being wasted and how much.
Second step, determine easy ways of reducing wastage through E-Centive our staff awareness and motivation program.
Third step, via an extensive energy audit, determine cost of energy saving technology along with detailed payback prediction.
Fourth Step, convince the customer its worth doing via a 25% ROI guarantee and a Pay-As-You-Save plan.

I am not saying that Mark endorses Enigin, but rather that he endorses an approach that is close to that followed by Enigin.

Now, some questions for you EXPBUSER:

Who are you? You call for transparency in other posts but you have not revealed your true identity. For all we know you are not really an ex-Somar Distributor but rather a competitor. Why not tell us who you are? We can then contact Somar and ask them give their side of your story so we can all make a more balanced judgment of your statements. I assume you sent them a copy of your business plan so they will be able to tell us if you followed through on your promises.

What business activities are you currently involved in? Do you offer any solutions that could be considered to be competitive to the companies that you are commenting on? That will help us to better asses the motive behind your comments.

Would you class yourself as an Entrepreneur? Before you answer, please note that the definition of an Entrepreneur is not someone who has run a business or is self employed but rather ‘a person who has possession over a new enterprise or venture and assumes full accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome.’ If you are not an Entrepreneur then it surprises me that you would take on a business opportunity where the primary determent of success is you. In my experience, if you are not an Entrepreneur it is best to stick to employment or at the outside buy an existing business or a proven franchise like McDonalds – it costs up to $1 million and you only make approx. 6% profit, but its pretty much guaranteed to work with or without you. If you are an Entrepreneur, then why blame Somar for your lack of success instead of taking ‘full accountability’ yourself?

Regards,

Posted for and on behalf of:

I.A.B Wrigley FRSA
Managing Director
Enigin PLC