People Moves: Kensa Heat Pumps Appoints Paul Donovan Chair

If you're a frequent reader of Sustainability Magazine, you'll know that heating is a hot topic. So hot, in fact, that space heating contributes to 40% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. 

According to many experts, business leaders and politicians, heat pumps are the simplest way to reduce that number. Heat pumps are powered by electricity, they're very energy efficient and they can be far cheaper than boilers, given the right market conditions.

Sounds like the juiciest piece of low-hanging fruit ever, right? Well, in short, things haven't been quite so simple as of yet, but that might all be about to change.

Kensa Heat Pumps, one of the UK's leading heat pump technology providers, is preparing itself for a huge uptick in demand, appointing seasoned business leader Paul Donovan as its Chairman of the Board to steer the ship to cleaner, greener and more successful waters.

Who is Kensa's new Chair?

Paul Donovan is a businessman with one of the most impressive and diverse CVs you'll likely ever read. He's held director-level and C-suite positions at companies like Apple, BT, Vodafone and ODEON and has taken on the role of Chair many times before.

Paul, who has an extensive track record of scaling businesses and delivering customer-focused solutions, will leverage his expertise to guide Kensa through its next phase of growth.

"Kensa has established itself as the UK leader in ground source heat pumps and has a clear goal of delivering affordable heat decarbonisation," says Paul. "I am excited to be joining the passionate and dedicated Kensa team and to help the business realise its role in enabling the green energy transition."

Paul succeeds Lord Matthew Taylor, who is retiring after 10 years at the helm. Those years were a big success, seeing Kensa win huge investments from the likes of Octopus Energy and Legal & General, but Paul may be about to oversee the turning of the tide for heat pumps - the mass market moment.

His appointment comes as the heat pump market is poised for significant expansion, driven by the UK's legally binding commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Watch this space.

A decade of transformation

Kensa's outgoing Chair, Lord Matthew Taylor, oversaw a transformative decade for the company, steering it to become a dominant force in the ground source heat pump industry.

As well as the investments Kensa secured, there was also the launch of innovative products like the Shoebox NX heat pump and pioneering projects like the world-first "Heat the Streets" initiative.

"It has been such a pleasure chairing Kensa and being part of the fantastic team that cares so much about ground sourced heat pumps and how they can give people zero-carbon heat for the lowest cost," said Taylor.

The barriers to heat pump rollout

The appointment of Paul comes at a critical juncture for the heat pump industry in the UK.

According to Air Source Heat Pumps London, the UK currently has just 412 heat pumps per 100,000 people.

In 2022 (the period in which the latest full dataset is available) 55,000 heat pumps were sold in the UK in 2022. in comparison, more than 620,000 were sold in France. All in all, 21 European countries had higher heat pump installation rates than the UK in 2022.

A key challenge facing the heat pump market is the cost of the hardware, with upfront installation prices typically much higher than traditional gas boilers.

Paul's mettle will no doubt be tested in this role, as he looks to engage the UK market in the same way as its European counterparts.

Positioning for growth in the market

Kensa CEO Tamsin Lishman has already expressed her excitement about the company's future under Paul's stewardship.

"His business experience, leadership and guidance will be invaluable as we build upon our trusted expertise, continue to lead the future of renewable heating and cooling and deliver affordable, consumer-focussed solutions," she says.

Paul himself has also stated his enthusiasm for the challenge ahead. "Kensa has established itself as the UK leader in ground source heat pumps and has a clear goal of delivering affordable heat decarbonisation," he says.

"I am excited to be joining the passionate and dedicated Kensa team and to help the business realise its role in enabling the green energy transition."

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