A Carmarthenshire energy business has moved into a state-of-the-art new home with help from RDP Sir Gâr.

The owners of Beacon Stoves, Ben and Francoise Graham, are celebrating a £96,905 grant to convert an unused building into a brand new base for the flourishing company.

The business was established in 1985 and operates from a house and outbuildings at Parc Gwair, Capel Iwan. Ben and Francoise had their expansion dream realised thanks to a Rural Conversion Grant from RDP Sir Gâr. They received the grant to convert a building that was originally used to house pigs on the site into a new modern showroom, training room, store rooms and entrance lobby.

Work has now been completed on the low energy building which was constructed with local timber and will be heated with renewable energy. The project will safeguard four jobs and create another three, as well as providing a workshop for training in the installation of environmentally friendly heating systems.


Owner Ben Graham said he was delighted with the grant assistance they received. He said: "The new building gives us the opportunity to demonstrate the convenience and low cost of modern wood heating. The government is set to make surprisingly generous contributions to the costs of some domestic systems and businesses can also benefit from several schemes. This should boost our local economy in many ways."

The Rural Conversion Grant was part of a major package of funding through the Rural Development Plan for Wales (RDP) 2007-2013, which is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, to support businesses in rural Carmarthenshire.

Applications for the Rural Conversion Grant have now closed, but a similar scheme - the Redundant Rural Buildings Grant – is being launched. The new grant will provide assistance to micro businesses for the conversion of redundant rural buildings into business use premises where either new jobs are created or existing jobs are safeguarded. Carmarthenshire County Council’s RDP Sir Gâr team are behind the scheme, aimed at creating jobs and regenerating rural parts of the area.

(CD)