ENERGY NEEDS Today, Banks Group is diversifying into renewable energy
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with the development and construction of eight wind farms in IScotland and the north of England. A willingness to diversify and move with the markets seems to characterise the Banks Group operation. In the wider economic world, the diversification into renewable energy is partly driven by climate change legislation, with the UK committing to a
tenfold expansion in the share of renewable energy in the energy mix, in order to meet its target of 15% renewable energy by 2020. It is also driven by the need to source dependable long term alternatives to fossil fuels. It is essentially a pragmatic approach which reflects not only the very long, capital intensive, business cycles in the energy industry, but also a fundamental change in the power business as it moves towards sustainable methods of generation. On the other hand, the move to diversify in Banks Bros. Transport reflects the firm's philosophy of working for a range of customers rather than just fulfilling their own needs in the form of coal haulage from the mine to their customer. Put simply, it's all about not having your eggs in one basket, even if, like Banks Group, you own both the basket and the eggs.