Southern Electric and The Sun newspaper awarded The Guinness World Record for their groundbreaking campaign

London - Cool nrg announced today that its ground breaking campaign in the UK – The Great British Light Switch, has been awarded the Guinness World Record for largest distribution of free energy-saving light bulbs. Backed by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown and UK Climate Change Minister, Phil Woolas, this campaign has set the bar high for other national initiatives.

After just ten months in the UK, Cool nrg brokered the largest partnership of its kind to distribute 4.5 million energy saving light bulbs. These bulbs once fitted could save up to £20 million off the UK energy bill and up to 387,000 tonnes of CO2. With only 23 people running a business across seven countries the scale and speed of this campaign has set the bar high for future action; proving that the UK can and will adopt energy saving technology when engaged in a way that means something to them.

UK Climate Change Minister Phil Woolas MP said, "This will do more to change behaviour than almost anything else in the UK. It's not just the savings from the light bulbs but the knock on effect on people's awareness and behaviour - congratulations!"

Rachel Ollivier from Cool nrg commented, “it is amazing to have been able to set a new Guinness World Record in this area, we look forward to many other campaigns that try to top this one!”

Bringing together the power of The Sun and the eco-commitment of Southern Electric

“What was so unique about this campaign were the strong leadership decisions made by the key partners involved. To get on board with a project of this scale on such a high profile subject was a brave decision, but we were lucky to be working with partners that are committed to reducing their impact on the environment and helping others to do so.

The Sun have an amazing ability to reach out to the UK public and Southern Electric the commitment to sustainable energy to be a real corporate face for the campaign,” continued Rachel Ollivier.

With over 400 000 extra papers sold on the day and the Southern Electric website inundated with hits, the campaign was a complete success and both partners are now looking at projects that they can run in the future.

With the UK project firmly under their belts Cool nrg European Head, Lara Olsen commented, “we conduct campaigns that are larger and faster than others think possible. Our core skill is the ability to analyse the legislation and economic drivers of each country and devise a campaign that works. In Mexico, an energy efficiency campaign is an opportunity to avoid investment in new power stations. In Europe, the campaign represents a chance for power companies to market their green credentials and demonstrate action. This recognition of our work is a fantastic boost to the projects we are undertaking elsewhere in the world.”

As governments and utility companies battle with ways to best meet their carbon reduction targets Cool nrg is firmly of the view that energy efficiency is the best route to do this. With 4.5 million light bulbs distributed in just 12 hours their goal of 200 million in 2008 suddenly seems achievable.