2025 highlights from the Energy Innovation Agency
- Thursday, December 18, 2025
- Posted By The Growth Company
As the end of the year approaches, we thought we’d take a quick look back over a busy but exciting year.
2025 was a big year for the Energy Innovation Agency (the Agency). Throughout the year, we worked alongside innovators, end users and partners from across the low carbon energy space to bring people together, support new ideas, and help innovation move from concept into practice.
From events and awards to projects and partnerships, the highlights below offer a snapshot of the moments, collaborations and progress that shaped our year.
The team has been busy attending and delivering a broad range of events, creating valuable opportunities for networking and connection. A standout highlight was our 4th annual conference in October, which brought together around 100 delegates from across the sustainability, innovation and low-carbon sectors. With collaboration, innovation and action at its heart, this was our most ambitious event to date, sharing real-world innovation insights from local, national and international organisations and local government, and connecting end users with innovators to tackle real energy challenges.
Over the year, we were also invited to speak at a wide range of events, including Innovation Zero; the Inaugural Catholic Diocese Environment Conference; UK Construction Week; and the Retrofit Innovation Summit in Liège, Belgium. Additionally, we delivered two Meet the Buyer events to support our involvement in the Future Homes Project as well as a series of webinars spotlighting projects and innovators from across our network. We also enjoyed strong collaborations with partners at key industry events, notably with the University of Salford at Futurebuild 2025 and Kantar Advisory Partners at Innovation Zero 2025. Together, these events helped open conversations, build relationships and strengthen connections.
2025 also brought awards success for the Agency, with a shortlisting in the Most Innovative Partnership category at the Building Innovation Awards 2025 and being crowned winners of the Best Approach to Decarbonisation category at the Northern Housing Awards 2025. We were delighted to receive this recognition and aim to build on it with further awards success in 2026.
2025 has been a standout year for the Agency. We’ve developed growing interest from large, multi-building estate owners across the public and private sectors, who recognise how our solutions improve energy efficiency, cut operating costs and carbon emissions, and supporting ESG goals—helping organisations become more resilient and competitive. We also secured our first major award, winning Best Approach to Decarbonisation at the Northern Housing Awards, and strengthened strategic partnerships that support our events, brand growth, and low-carbon project delivery. Looking ahead, 2026 is set to be even more impactful as we accelerate the rollout of low-carbon energy innovation across Greater Manchester and beyond through our expanding partner network.
Collaboration continues to be a guiding principle for the Agency, not only in connecting innovators with end users but in working closely with other organisations to build partnerships which broaden our reach and impact. In 2025, this included announcing new partnerships, such as Planet Mark, alongside strengthening established collaborations with Kantar Advisory Partners, GMCA and Green Economy.
The extension of the Energy Accelerator for Non-Domestic Buildings programme, delivering an additional £10 million in funding through Innovate UK, enabled us to support even more low-carbon activity. In 2025 we created a further five projects, which will support Greater Manchester’s transition to net zero while also contributing to economic growth, technological advancement and job creation in the region. Beyond funded activity, we continued to develop strategic opportunities with large multi-building estate owners and local authorities who see the value in combining innovative solutions to improve energy efficiency, reduce costs and emissions, and support their ESG goals, helping them meet targets and become more resilient and competitive.
This represents just a snapshot of a year that saw us build momentum, deepen collaboration and increase the pace at which innovation is put into practice.
Looking ahead to 2026, we’re focused on building on this progress — strengthening partnerships, supporting more organisations to adopt innovative solutions, and continuing to play our role in turning ambition into action.
Please contact us to find out more about how you can work with us in 2026.