Mitchell & Dickinson was founded in 2010 with a mission to address climate change by retrofitting the UK’s older housing stock with innovative insulation and draught-proofing solutions.
Where it all began
Our co-founder Mukti Mitchell was on an internship in parliament when, back in 2010, MPs started looking at ways to insulate Britain’s old housing stock. Always up for a challenge (Mukti sailed around Britain on an eco-yacht to promote sustainable lifestyles), he was inspired to tackle the issue head-on.
In an interview with MyGreenPod Magazine, Mukti said: ‘Britain has 27 million homes so if we knocked them all down and built new ones it would take 270 years – that’s impossible. Our old buildings are also an important part of our national heritage and beauty and make many of us happy. Retrofitting insulation is keeping the best of the old and the new: it gives people jobs, is far less expensive and uses far fewer new materials. Can you imagine how many trees it would take to rebuild our 270 million windows?’
Mitchell & Dickinson join forces
Mukti joined forces with Paul Dickinson, founder of the Carbon Disclosure Project, who was inspired by Mukti’s tenacity and commitment to addressing climate change. He said: ‘I was told insulation provided the best return on investment anybody could reasonably seek to obtain. I was very interested in getting into the insulation business, as it could help people save money by taking action on climate change, a win-win situation.’
Preserving our heritage
Paul and Mukti launched Mitchell & Dickinson in a bid to make period properties as warm as they are beautiful. ‘We offer CosyGlazing – a virtually invisible secondary glazing – as well as loft, floor and sloping ceiling insulation. Together these save up to 50% of the heat from leaking out of your house. It makes you warm, offers a return on investment of 10-20% per year and is good for the planet, too.’
Today, Mitchell & Dickinson is led by a management team led by chair, Tom Coles. He originally joined the company as a surveyor, sharing the same values and passion to insulate Britain’s older housing stock. He took over as managing director in October 2019.
A value-driven business
‘We have created a business that considers the consequences of all its actions, to help create a world that is a better place to live,’ said Mukti.
‘We value people and the planet as highly as we value profit. Our ecological aim is to reduce CO2 emissions. Our economic aim is to make profits sufficient to grow the business and provide a return to investors. And our social aim is to demonstrate how a happy team work better and happy customers provide more business.’
Mitchell & Dickinson’s global influence
Energy efficiency is a win-win for all and Mitchell & Dickinson strongly believe that it can be achieved by repairing, restoring and enhancing the fabric of our old buildings. So we’re always happy to discuss and champion these concepts with our stakeholders, whether individually, locally or nationally.
Paul Dickinson, now our non-executive chair, is listed in Time Magazine top 100 climate change influencers for his work with both the Carbon Disclosure Project and Mitchell & Dickinson. Co-founder Mukti Mitchell has won the Energy Efficiency Association’s Energy Efficiency Champion award and is the author of a government white paper on EPC reform. He has also created award-winning online carbon calculators and written many books and articles on low-carbon lifestyles.
Other training initiatives include the formation of a separate Mitchell & Dickinson company called The Period and Listed Retrofit Academy which has run several training courses aimed at home and estate owners which have been turned into videos such as Carbon Neutrality for Period and Listed Properties and Insulating Listed Properties.
