A Cumbrian woman inspired by bats to invent a product helping save the environment is celebrating her business’ 10th birthday.
Sally Phillips, 53, of Maryport, never thought she’d be running a business, let alone be a CEO, when she was working as a self-employed ecologist 10 years ago.
Specialising in bat and owl surveys, Sally was inspired after working on a bat helpline and hearing stories of bats entering homes through chimneys.
She said: “It just made me aware of how many open chimneys there are. I’ve always had a passion for the environment and saving energy, and I just thought that’s a wicked waste of heat.
“The more I looked into it and did research, I found that five per cent of house hold heat escapes up open chimneys and that there’s over 11 million chimneys in the UK, so I knew there was potential for a chimney bung.”
Setting up shop in a small workshop in Maryport, Sally began experimenting and invented a chimney draught excluder made of Herdwick wool.
Within a few months, the product became a hit and over 160,000 have sold worldwide. It was also awarded a patent and gained a prestigious BBA certification, which marks the product as high quality.
The demand for Chimney Sheep has now grown even further as people look for ways to save money on their energy bills this winter.
Anually, the product has helped customers save £26,551,362 off heating bills thanks to more heat staying in the home, leading to customers using their central heating less.
Thanks to the sales explosion, Sally has now moved her business into Workington’s former bowling alley with 15 staff members.
But at first, taking the leap was anything but exciting for Sally, who had to order 1,000 plastic components for her product without knowing if anyone would want to buy it.
She said: “When I was setting out that felt enormous and it was a massive risk because it was a lot of money to pay for the moulds. So, when I launched in November 2012, I had no money left for advertising, we were just lucky enough to get into some papers.
“By the following January, I’d got through the first 1000 components and I felt like the gamble had paid off, there was a demand for it and what had first seemed like a daunting number had worked out in a few months.
“I had also had some really positive feedback from customers. It felt like I hadn’t risked it all for nothing and it just felt really great.”
Alongside the money saved on customer bills, the simple draught excluder has also made a huge difference to the environment.
Over 10 years, Chimney Sheep has saved 188,080 tonnes of CO₂ by preventing heat loss up chimneys, which is the equivalent of planting 277,481 acres of trees.
Sally said: “It’s enormously rewarding to know we’re helping the environment. I’ve always been concerned about the environment since I was a teenager, so for the last 35 years I’ve campaigned and written letters, but to have a business where we can sell environmentally friendly products and know we’re making a difference is just amazing.”
In addition to her products, Sally also set up Buy Land, Plant Trees, a community interest company where 20 per cent of the company’s profits go.
Since 2019, the company has acquired 180 acres of land and planted 70,000 trees with a further 100,000 set to be planted next planting season on Low Fell in the Lake District.
Sally added: “There’s a lot of things to worry about with the environment and sometimes you just feel powerless and hopeless but planting trees is a really positive action.
“They sequester carbon, mitigate flood damage and create habitat for wildlife. I started the company when I was looking for land because I was growing trees in pots and need somewhere to plant them.
“I found some land and thought well my son might look after them when I’m gone, but how can I guarantee that the trees will keep growing? So, I ended up setting up a community interest company and we now have 180 acres which is asset locked.
“I don’t own it myself; it belongs to the company so the trees will be retained and invested money stays with the company, guarantying into the future that the land and trees will be retained for posterity.”
As a result, Chimney Sheep was one of Kevin McCloud’s Green Heroes and has also won several awards for innovation, including a Queen’s Award for Enterprise this year.
Reflecting on the company’s 10th birthday, Sally said: “I honestly had no idea we’d be here now; I thought a chimney bung would have potential, but I wasn’t confident in myself as a business person. I had no idea that I’d be doing what I am today.
“It’s been like an adventure, I thought I would take it as far as I could and then when I’d reached my limits, sell it, but we’re still here, growing and adventuring. Like an adventure, there’s been highs and lows and I’ve learnt a tremendous amount along the way.”
She added: “There are about 11 million chimneys out there in the UK. If every single one of these had a Chimney Sheep fitted, we could save 2,337,511 tonnes of CO2, which is the same as planting 5,493,020.277 acres of trees.
“It would also save a total of about £327,704,960 off energy bills – annually! These are rather astonishing figures so our aim is to keep raising awareness about the importance of draught-proofing chimneys and get as many people as possible fitting Chimney Sheep draught excluders.”
