Marston’s has appointed energy supply platform SQE to be its strategic electricity partner across its estate of 1,300 pubs and bars as part of its commitment to reach Net Zero by 2040.

The pub chain said that the partnership will support its “ongoing drive to flexibly manage energy costs while increasing the amount of renewable electricity used across its nationwide estate”, which is “an important part” of its climate change commitments.

It said that the platform will provide the chain with “clearer, site-by-site visibility of energy use”.

Marston’s energy manager Chris White said: “The electricity market is changing rapidly, and cost remains a critical consideration for the hospitality sector - but so does our commitment to lower-carbon energy.

“One of our biggest challenges is increasing the amount of renewable electricity we use, at a price that works for our business.”

SQE founder and chief executive Chris Bowden added: “Our role in this new partnership is to give Marston’s the choice, transparency and control to manage its diverse and community-based estate more effectively and enable it to increase the proportion of renewable electricity across the business.”

Last year Marston’s announced it was rolling out solar energy panels across 120 of its sites.

Each installation aims to generate around 30,000kWh of electricity each year, meeting around a fifth of each pub’s energy demand, said Marston’s.

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