About McInnes Group
Started in 2010 by Lachlan McInnes, McInnes Group designs, installs and looks after heat pumps, solar PV, battery storage and air conditioning across Scotland — for homeowners, businesses, charities and community organisations. Every project designed and project-managed in-house, family-run from our Inverness HQ.
Our story
McInnes Group started with a redundancy notice. In 2010, Lachlan McInnes was an apprentice who had just passed his gas qualification with a year of his apprenticeship still to serve — and suddenly no employer. Going out on his own was a necessity, not a plan. Family helped him buy a small van, and the first months were anything that paid: heating and plumbing call-outs, cleaning gutters, joinery, labouring. He finished the apprenticeship while self-employed, getting his own work independently assessed to qualify.
The business was incorporated in 2012 as L McInnes Plumbing and Heating Ltd — and then made an unfashionable decision. At a time when most Scottish heating firms doubted heat pumps could cope with a Highland winter, Lachlan moved the business into renewables. Every year since has proved that bet righter: the firm became McInnes Group as the work broadened, and the technologies most of the trade once dismissed are now the heart of what we do — designed, installed and proven in some of the harshest heating conditions in the UK.
Today the team sits at around 30 people — engineers, designers, project managers and office staff — designing and project-managing every install in-house. It's still family-run: Lachlan's brother works in the business, and the same values that got a one-man van through its first winter still apply. Do the job properly, say no when something won't work, and answer the phone afterwards.
“I started in renewables in 2010. People said it wouldn't come to anything. It has.”
Our approach
Every install starts with a survey of the property as it actually is, not a generic template. We size to room-by-room heat loss and real usage data, retain components that work, and replace only what genuinely needs replacing.
Design, project management, commissioning and aftercare all sit with our in-house team. When we use a trusted specialist on the install — for boreholes, scaffolding, or other specific trades — they work to our spec and the same number on your paperwork answers the phone afterwards. One company, one accountability line, no national service network in the middle.
We say no when a property is not suited to a particular technology, or when a different combination would serve the customer better. The right answer is sometimes "do nothing yet" — and we will say that too.
For the Home Energy Scotland grant and loan, Smart Export Guarantee, and the Scottish commercial schemes, you apply directly to the scheme yourself. As an MCS-certified installer we give you the technical documents your application needs — the quote, MCS certificate, heat-loss figures and expected savings — so the paperwork you have to complete is straightforward.
How we work
Every project runs the same way — from a no-obligation free estimate, through a proper site survey, to a year of remote monitoring once the system is in. Designed and project-managed in-house, with fully qualified engineers at every stage.
Step 1
A no-obligation estimate based on what you tell us about the property and what you want the system to do. No call-out fee, no pressure.
Step 2
Once an estimate is accepted, we carry out a proper site survey before any installation — measuring the building, modelling heat loss or generation, and checking the existing services.
Step 3
Issued after the survey. Clearly flags any changes from the estimate, with the reasoning. Fully transparent up front — no mid-job surprises.
Step 4
Carried out by fully qualified engineers at every stage. We programme the schedule with you and keep disruption to the building proportionate.
Step 5
On every job. You leave the handover knowing exactly how the system works, what every control does, and where to find your paperwork.
Step 6
We remotely monitor every system we install and optimise it through the first year — tuning for efficiency and comfort as you live with it through every season.
The team
Our team handles every stage — survey, design, install and aftercare — and the same number stays on your paperwork for the lifetime of your system. Headshots and bios coming shortly.
Founder & Director
Started the business in 2010 after redundancy, incorporated it in 2012 and grew it into McInnes Group as the work broadened into renewables. Leads strategy, oversees major commercial and community projects, and stays hands-on with system design where it matters most.
General Manager — Operations
Runs day-to-day operations from our Inverness HQ. Single point of accountability for survey scheduling, install delivery, and aftercare across Scotland.
Technical Director
Leads the technical side of every McInnes system — design standards, specification, and the engineering decisions that make an install perform.
Project Manager
Runs installs day to day — programming the schedule with you, coordinating the trades on site, and keeping every job moving to plan.
MCS-certified heat pump design and install lead. Vaillant and Grant specialism.
Annual service coordination, warranty handling, and customer support for the full McInnes installed base.
The next generation
Lachlan finished his own apprenticeship the hard way — self-employed, after redundancy. So growing the Highlands' next generation of green-energy engineers isn't a corporate gesture for us; it's personal.
Working with Developing the Young Workforce Inverness & Central Highland, we've taken renewable energy trades into local schools — demonstrating solar and heat pump technology to senior pupils at Inverness High School, and hosting work-experience placements. Two of those placements impressed us enough to become modern apprenticeships with the company, with the first now into their second year.
Scotland's renewable targets need engineers who don't exist yet. We'd rather help train them here in the Highlands than wait for someone else to.
Partner manufacturers
We specify equipment we trust, from manufacturers we've worked with for years. We're not tied to any single brand — every system is sized to the building first, then the right manufacturer chosen for the job.
Accreditations
MCS for the renewable technologies, OFTEC and SNIPEF for the heating side, NAPIT for the electrics, CHAS for site safety. See the full list and what each one means.
Looking ahead
We're also home to some of the first engineers in the UK qualified for domestic hydrogen heating — so as the technology develops, we're already ready for it.
In short
16 years on, McInnes Group is among Scotland's most experienced renewable energy specialists — trusted by homes, businesses and community organisations across the country.
Next step
Phone is usually fastest — you'll get straight through to our Inverness office, Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:00, not a call centre. Or send a written enquiry and we'll reply within one working day.
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