Clean growth for Pop Art Media Group

Leeds-based advertising company to save over £3,000 a year after switching to LED.

Pop Art Media Group is an independent outdoor advertising company. Pop Art's sister company, City Ads used fluorescent tube lighting to illuminate advertising panels across the city. Due to increasing maintenance costs, the business decided to turn the lighting off to save money. With support from the LEP resource efficiency programme, the business was able to invest in LED, a more energy-efficient lighting solution that has reduced the electricity rating in each panel by 55%. This has enabled City Ads to turn the lights back on in the panels and achieve further energy savings including:

• Reducing the electricity rating per panel from 320 Watts to 144 Watts – saving an estimated 19,272 kWh a year
• An estimated £3,276 saving on electricity bills a year
• A saving of 5.5 tonnes of carbon a year

City Ads was established in 2009 after the collapse of a national advertising company left over seventy 6-sheet lamppost panels in Leeds derelict. The double-sided panels are in high visibility areas next to main arterial roads, attracting up to 230,000 views per poster, per fortnight. Owner, Rick Wade, bought and refurbished the units to provide local businesses and charities with advertising opportunities.

The outdoor media market is competitive and as an independent business, City Ads struggled to compete with leading media owners such as Clear Channel, JCDecaux and Global, that offer more premium outdoor digital solutions. To compete, City Ads used fluorescent tubing as a backlight to illuminate the posters in the panels. Backlighting gives advertisements stand-out and allows them to be seen day or night.

In January 2015, City Ads turned off the backlight because operating costs had become too expensive. However, not having a backlight meant that the posters could only be seen throughout the day, making them less desirable to customers.

In June 2019, Rick met LEP Growth Manager, Amrit Choda at the West Leeds Business Network event and was referred to the LEP Growth Service. Through the LEP Resource Efficiency Fund programme, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), City Ads received a 25 per cent grant to the value of £1,086 to replace the fluorescent tube lighting in 73 units with LEDs.

LEDs are a great solution for outdoor lighting due to qualities including brightness, durability and efficiency. The new lighting has reduced the electricity rating in each unit from 320 Watts to 144 Watts, saving the business an estimated 19,272 kWh a year, equating to a saving of £3,276 on electricity bills and 5.5 tonnes of carbon. 

Rick Wade, Owner of City Ads said:

“Not being able to afford to illuminate the advertising panels was one of the main problems restricting the business. We are extremely grateful that the LEP grant will enable us to concentrate on running our business the best we can”.

Now that the running costs of the units have been reduced, the longevity of the units has been preserved allowing City Ads to have backlights on all of the panels and focus on growing a sustainable business.

For support to become more efficient in the way you do business, visit the-lep.com/Resource