Rebuilding Our Future – HAI’s Retrofitting Online Conference

HAI is pleased to launch its upcoming half-day online conference: Rebuilding Our Future – Retrofitting.

Kindly sponsored by Dolmen Insurance Brokers, this half-day morning conference will take place via Zoom on the morning of May 6th, and will include an exciting line-up of key-note speakers and a panel discussion on the latest considerations on home retrofitting trends and insights that the industry should know about.

Our three keynote speakers are experts in their fields, and will deliver 30-minute presentations on key topics that hardware retailers, merchants (and their customers) and suppliers/distributors should know about, such as retrofitting grants, Credit Union financial supports and retrofitting trends.

Local Credit Unions have a number of products and services available for consumers borrowing for renovations/energy retrofits. It may be worthwhile to get to know your local Credit Union loan officer and manager to explore mutual opportunities.

Keynote presenters at this morning conference are:

William Walsh – Chief Executive Officer of the SEAI

William joined SEAI in 2013, and previously held the position of both Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining SEAI he worked for IFI where he held a number of roles including Assistant Chief Executive Officer and Director. Prior to that he held senior management positions in the private sector. William is a Chartered Accountant, holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from Dublin City University and a Graduate Diploma in Strategy, Innovation and Change from UCD.

SEAI is tasked with the roll-out of Ireland’s climate action plans.

Cathal Tyther – Manager of the Solution Centre at The Credit Union Development Association

Established by a group of credit unions in recognition of the growing need to co-operate more closely on their shared challenges, the Solution Centre has facilitated a large and growing number of credit unions to collaborate on projects relating to innovation and business model development. Their membership has grown to include over one third of the Irish system in terms of assets under management, credit unions who in turn serve almost one million members.

Cathal’s talk will focus on:

• The home improvement market from a financing perspective;
• The opportunities we see in retrofitting;
• The challenges facing retrofitting in terms of consumer finance;
• An overview of schemes and initiatives we have piloted.

Paddy Sweeney – Manager Director – Retrofit Energy Ireland Ltd (REIL)

Paddy is a qualified Quantity Surveyor and with over 13 years’ experience in the construction industry in both Quantity Surveying, Project Management and Contracts Management.

He has been Managing Director of REIL since its inception and has a hands-on Management role in all aspects of the business. Under his stewardship REIL have become the largest private company to deliver Energy Savings under the Energy Efficiency Obligations Scheme accounting for over half of all energy Savings achieved on the scheme to date.

Early-bird registrations are now OPEN. To book you (and your colleagues) place please complete the form below. For more information please contact HAI at 01 2980969 or email aoife@hardwareassociation.ie.