High street retailer John Lewis has completed an overhaul of its Ipswich store to make it the first 100 per cent LED shop.
The department store has installed some 500 LED modules throughout the store, including in non-trade areas and they have been turned on.
These LED bulbs were fitted after lighting design manager at John Lewis Barry Ayling conducted pilot tests of different ceiling spotlights at John Lewis stores in Oxford Street and Stratford as part of an 18-month investigation.
He told Lighting Magazine: "Ipswich is a line in the sand as to whether as a business we will continue with LEDs or stick with ceramic metal halide.
"The shop staff, customers, procurement and CSR team are happy, so we won't be going back to ceramics. LEDs are working for us. Lighting is the biggest step change needed for CSR targets. LEDs would make between a 15 and 20 per cent energy saving across the business."
Mr Ayling added that the average lighting benchmark across the John Lewis business is 30 watts per square metre based on ceramic metal halide lights, but the equivalent figure in Ipswich is just ten watts per square metre.
The expert continued by stating that only 18 months ago, the price of LED ceiling light fittings was prohibitive and only this year has it become a financially viable option for companies.
He said that the organisation is even looking to reduce the electricity usage further in the coming months and will looking at ways to do that.
John Lewis may be the first company in the UK to go completely LED, but it is not the only one in the world.
Indeed, Macy's recently revealed that it managed to switch to LED bulbs in over 800 of its department stores in the US, which has helped bring savings of up to $80 million (£49 million).
