Sector: Retail (Betting)
Client: Betfred – 1,400+ high street locations
Challenge: High total energy cost across small, dispersed sites
Solution: EMMA AI® platform for daily insights and shop-level actions
Impact: £234k saved annually, with expected savings rising to £381k
The Challenge
With over 1,400 retail betting shops, each with relatively low energy use but a significant combined footprint, Betfred needed a smarter way to cut costs and carbon. Traditional approaches to energy management weren’t cost-effective at this scale.
The goal: reduce energy spend, support Net Zero ambitions, and show measurable ROI, without adding headcount or investing in new infrastructure.
Our Approach
Optimal Monitoring deployed EMMA AI® to turn Betfred’s existing energy data into real-time, actionable insight. The AI platform analysed data daily, identifying abnormal usage and creating instant work tickets for shop teams.
This decentralised, exception-led model empowered staff across the estate to take immediate action; such as switching off equipment overnight or addressing usage in low-traffic areas, without extra workload or training.
To demonstrate impact, only the East region initially received EMMA AI recommendations. It outperformed all others, validating the technology’s effectiveness.
The Outcome
Within just three months, Betfred achieved a 6.3% reduction in energy consumption across piloted regions, saving £234,000 per year and cutting 131 tonnes of CO2e. And no CapEx investment was required.
After seeing the results, Betfred rolled EMMA AI out nationwide. Forecast savings now sit at approximately £381,000 per year, with payback well within 12 months and ROI in the hundreds of percent.
Key Learnings
- Low CapEx, High ROI: EMMA AI required no new hardware, delivering savings through smarter use of existing data.
- People-powered efficiency: Engaging store teams with simple, daily instructions turned managers into energy champions.
- Scalable strategy: AI made estate-wide analysis and continuous energy optimisation possible, something traditional methods couldn’t achieve.
- Cultural shift: With leadership buy-in and clear feedback loops, energy management became embedded in daily practice.
“You’ve got to love a product that actually delivers savings. I thought it was another gimmick, but they proved me wrong.”
