Partner Spotlight

Downlight Electrical

Article Published: Tuesday 2nd June 2026

From a handful of installs a week to 20+: Scaling EV charging with confidence

How competitively priced chargers, responsive support and smart tariff compatibility helped Downlight Electrical rapidly grow its EV charging business.

Key outcomes

EV charger installs increased from around 3-4 per week to almost 20 per week, and growing

  • VCHRGD became Downlight’s primary EV charger recommendation

  • Reduced admin burden caused by poor manufacturer support from competing brands

  • Improved conversion rates following Octopus-compatible smart tariff integration

  • Strong lead growth creating demand for additional EV engineers

  • New referral partnerships created through the wider VCHRGD installer network

At a glance

  • Downlight Electrical

  • Electrical contracting and EV charging

  • Find a reliable, competitively priced EV charger partner that was easy to sell, easy to support and capable of helping scale a fast-growing EV charging division

  • VCHRGD smart EV chargers, backed by responsive UK-based support, strong installer experience and smart tariff compatibility

The opportunity: Building a scalable EV charging business

For growing electrical contractors, EV charging represents a huge commercial opportunity. But scaling successfully depends on more than simply generating leads.

Installers need:

  • Reliable hardware

  • Competitive pricing

  • Easy commissioning

  • Responsive support

  • Strong smart tariff compatibility

  • A manufacturer that actively helps protect the customer experience

Without those things, growth quickly becomes difficult to sustain.

That was exactly the challenge facing Downlight Electrical as its EV charging business began accelerating.

The Hampshire-based electrical contractor had identified growing customer demand and invested heavily in paid advertising to build a strong EV lead pipeline. But the team recognised that many chargers in the market created unnecessary challenges, whether through high costs, unreliable support or difficult customer experiences.

They needed a charging partner capable of supporting rapid growth without increasing operational headaches.

About Downlight Electrical

Downlight Electrical is a fast-growing electrical contractor based in Fleet, Hampshire, delivering domestic, commercial and renewable electrical services across the South East and London.

Founded in early 2019 by Charlie Snowdon and Lee Attard, the business has grown steadily, expanding from a small founder-led operation into a team of around 18 engineers supported by a growing office and operations function. EV charging has become an increasingly important part of that growth.

Today, Downlight Electrical delivers domestic and commercial EV charger installations at significant scale while continuing to expand its renewable energy offering.

Discovering VCHRGD

The relationship between Downlight Electrical and VCHRGD began through LinkedIn and quickly developed into a close commercial partnership.

At the time, Downlight was beginning to invest more seriously in EV charger marketing and lead generation. The business could already see the market opportunity, but existing charger brands were creating problems around pricing and support.

As Ellie Browne, EV Specialist at Downlight Electrical, explained:

“The other EV chargers were quite expensive, and tech support really lacked. With VCHRGD we found a gap in the market really where it had a good price point and offered everything the other chargers were offering.”

VCHRGD stood out immediately as a combination of the following:

  • Competitive pricing

  • Responsive support

  • Strong feature set

  • Future smart tariff integration roadmap

Scaling installs rapidly

The impact of the partnership was almost immediate.

When Downlight first began exploring EV charging more seriously, the business was installing around three to four chargers per week. Since partnering with VCHRGD, that number has increased dramatically.

The growth became so significant that EV charging evolved into a full-time operational focus internally, with Ellie now dedicated entirely to the EV side of the business.

The challenge for Downlight is no longer lead generation. It is scaling engineering capacity quickly enough to fulfil growing customer demand.

“We’re seeing strong demand continue to come in, and we’re focused on scaling efficiently to ensure this growth continues.”

Ellie Browne, EV Specialist

Why VCHRGD worked for Downlight

1. Competitive pricing without compromise

Price matters heavily in the domestic EV charging market, particularly when customers are comparing multiple charger brands online.

Downlight found that VCHRGD delivered the feature set customers expected without forcing installers into difficult upsell conversations.

That combination of affordability and functionality aligned perfectly with VCHRGD’s wider market positioning around reliable, competitively priced charging hardware.

2. Octopus compatibility transformed sales conversations

For Downlight, smart tariff integration quickly became one of the most important buying factors for customers.

Before Octopus Energy compatibility launched, customers repeatedly asked whether the chargers would integrate with the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff.

Once compatibility arrived, sales conversations became significantly easier.

“As soon as they were [Octopus compatible], it was an easy sell. We really don’t have to try hard with it anymore.”

Ellie Browne, EV Specialist

That reflects the wider importance of tariff-ready charging across the VCHRGD ecosystem, with integrations increasingly driving installer advocacy and consumer demand.

3. Installer-friendly hardware and reliable support

For installation businesses operating at pace, poor manufacturer support creates major operational problems.

Downlight had previous experience of competing brands where support delays created significant admin burden internally.

“It was causing us so much admin work because we’re fighting for our customer to get support from the charger brands - I’ve never had trouble getting in touch with VCHRGD.”

Ellie Browne, EV Specialist

VCHRGD’s support responsiveness became a major differentiator.

That experience aligns with VCHRGD’s broader support model, where 91% of customer queries are resolved within 30 minutes and customer service is positioned as a core competitive advantage.

Downlight’s engineers also found the chargers straightforward to install and commission.

“Downlight Electrical are exactly the kind of installer partner we want to support as we grow. They’ve built a fantastic operational and customer-focused business, and it’s been brilliant seeing how quickly their EV division has scaled. We’re proud to support that growth with reliable hardware, responsive support and a partnership model built around helping installers succeed.”

Fraser Koefman
Commercial Director, VCHRGD

Growing through partnership

One particularly interesting outcome of the relationship has been collaboration across the wider VCHRGD installer network.

As Downlight’s marketing activity expanded geographically, the business began generating leads outside its normal operating area. Rather than waste those opportunities, VCHRGD introduced Downlight to other trusted installer partners within the network.

That allowed:

  • Better lead fulfilment

  • Shared commercial opportunities

  • Greater installer collaboration

Most importantly, it demonstrated the level of trust within the VCHRGD ecosystem.

“We trust VCHRGD enough to trust their installers.”

Ellie Browne, EV Specialist

Looking ahead

Downlight Electrical sees EV charging as a major long-term growth area and expects VCHRGD to remain central to that journey.

The business is already targeting significantly higher monthly installation volumes, with ambitions to scale well beyond current levels as additional engineers join the team.

For VCHRGD, Downlight represents exactly the kind of installer partner the business wants to grow alongside – ambitious, customer-focused, operationally strong and committed to delivering high-quality EV charging experiences.

Together, both businesses are helping accelerate EV adoption through a model built on reliability, support and long-term partnership rather than short-term sales.

Ready for another Partner Spotlight?  Here’s how we deliver simple, reliable and scalable home charging for So Energy customers