A BOOMING coffee shop and sandwich bar in Crossgar has recently become the first commercial customer to connect to the Phoenix Natural Gas network in the area as part of a major £60million extension project to bring natural gas to 13 towns across Co Down.
Family-run McCarthy’s of Crossgar are among the first to connect to the network following the completion of construction work in the area earlier this year.
Access to natural gas has come at the right time for McCarthy’s as they expanded the business into new premises.
Michael McCarthy, owner of McCarthy’s, said: “We had been looking at new premises in Crossgar for some time as we had simply outgrown our existing unit.
“We wanted to fit the new space out to the highest standard and it made sense to make the move to natural gas now that it’s available in the area.
“We worked closely with the Phoenix Natural Gas team and our installers during the fit-out so that everything worked as efficiently as possible from a cost and energy efficiency perspective and we’re delighted with the results.”
Michael added: “We’ve only been in the new premises for a few weeks but already we are seeing the benefits of the move and having taken on new staff to manage the increasing number of customers we now have a team of over 12 employees.”
Olly Mars, Industrial and Commercial Sales Manager at Phoenix Natural Gas, said: “We’re delighted to mark the first commercial connection to natural gas in Crossgar with McCarthy’s.
“Despite having only completed construction work in this relatively small area of Crossgar, it’s great to see that customers are already ‘switching on’ to the benefits of natural gas and I look forward to helping even more businesses and customers make the move to natural gas in the area in the near future.
Through the extension of its licence to East Down, Phoenix Natural Gas is bringing natural gas to over 28,000 properties in the towns of Anahilt, Ballygowan, Ballynahinch, Crossgar, Hillsborough, Downpatrick, Spa, Castlewellan, Dromore, Drumaness, Dundrum, Newcastle and Saintfield.