Is Ploughcroft Solar Still in Business? (2026 Update)
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Look for Ploughcroft Solar on AmazonFull story →Chris Hopkins pitched a home solar panel installation business at the height of the UK's feed-in tariff boom, when government incentives were pulling homeowners toward rooftop solar fast.
Going by the public record, the company that took the investment did not make it through in its original form.
The Deal Itself
Hopkins asked for £120,000 for 25 percent of the business, and Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis backed it jointly, both drawn in by a renewable energy sector they saw as having real long-term legs.
That broader read on solar was reasonable. The specific company still ran into trouble a few years later.
When The Subsidy Disappeared
Government feed-in tariff payments, not organic household appetite for solar, drove almost all of the sector's growth at that point, which left installers exposed the moment policy shifted.
Sharp cuts from the government body overseeing energy policy hit installers across the board, and Ploughcroft reportedly made staff redundant before filing for administration about half a year after the Dragons had written their cheque.
What Came Next For The Founder
Hopkins bought back the company's assets once it entered administration and carried on under a new corporate name, later selling into roofing group Avonside Group Services in 2017 and remaining on staff there in a director role for several more years.
Records show that later entity struck off the register in March 2024, so the company that originally pitched in the Den is not trading independently today.