profile
Paul Haynes is the Product, Solutions & Marketing Director at Baxi leading brand, product and growth strategy across residential and commercial heating as the industry transitions to low-carbon solutions. He focuses on turning ambition into execution moving organisations from selling products to delivering end-to-end solutions that actually work in the real world.
Paul’s leadership approach has been shaped by experience at Amazon and Google, where he developed a sharp bias for action, customer obsession, and data-led decision making balanced with the reality that progress only counts if teams can deliver it at pace. Today, he applies those principles to large-scale transformation programmes spanning brand, portfolio strategy, go-to-market execution and connected services.
Known for being pragmatic, straight-talking and people-focused, Paul is passionate about building strong teams, developing future leaders and creating cultures where ownership beats hierarchy. He believes growth comes from clarity, commitment and follow-through not buzzwords.
Baxi
Baxi is a leading name in the British, Irish, and global heating and hot water industry, driving innovation and product design throughout the 20th century. We are part of the €2bn-turnover BDR Thermea Group, one of the three largest heating appliance manufacturers worldwide.
Since our founding in 1866, we have maintained a manufacturing base in Lancashire. Today, our 1,300 employees across the UK and Ireland serve both domestic and commercial customers, providing comprehensive heating and hot water solutions.
Our trusted portfolio includes easy-to-install products and responsive services, ranging from heat pumps, cylinders, and electric or gas boilers, to heat networks and large-scale pre-fabricated plant rooms tailored to commercial requirements.
Committed to sustainability and social impact, we launched our Sustainability Pledge in 2020 and are founding members of The Construction Inclusion Coalition (CIC), working to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion in the construction industry. Our profits support the BDR Foundation, through which we promote STEM awareness in UK schools and colleges, partnering with World Skills UK, Primary Engineer, and other programmes to inspire the next generation of heating engineers.
Visit: baxi.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/baxiheating/
Launched in 2015, the award winning monthly Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report is the only reliable measure of repair, maintenance & improvement (RMI) activity in the UK. Filling an important gap, it can be widely used in construction, and by economists, Government, national media, commentators and influencers outside the industry.
Baxi Comment: Q2 2026
There was no broad-based recovery in the UK heating market in Q2 2026, but regulation, energy economics, installer capability and consumer confidence are reshaping the market more than any simple cyclical rebound.
Heat pumps remain central to the direction of travel, and Q2 showed both the scale of future opportunity and the delivery gap still to close. Ofgem’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) data shows strong cumulative demand, with 135,500 applications and 87,266 vouchers redeemed since May 2022. The key market reality is converting that interest into completed installations at greater pace and confidence.
Off-gas-grid homes in England and Wales using heating oil can now apply for a £9,000 heat pump grant, up from £7,500. Energy transition consultants, LCP Delta’s July 2026 analysis says the uplift can cut the payback of an air-to-water heat pump versus an oil boiler by around two years at current oil prices. This strengthens electrification in suitable homes, but suitability, installer availability, confidence and total installed cost still decide whether a grant becomes an installation.
The Future Homes and Buildings Standards, published in March, are expected to deliver new homes with at least 75% lower carbon emissions than 2013 from 2027. Manufacturers and developers are already preparing, and successful suppliers will support low-risk, integrated heating and hot water solutions rather than sell individual products.
Ofgem confirmed the July-September price cap would rise 13% to £1,862, with gas unit prices up 28% versus electricity up under 6%. The electricity-to-gas ratio limits heat pump economics in many mains-gas homes, but higher gas prices and the BUS uplift for oil-heated homes improve the case in some segments. Change will vary by property, fuel and customer type.
Installer capability remains the biggest structural constraint. LCP Delta expects a pronounced installer shortage, slow electricity market reform and limited CHMM (Clean Heat Market Mechanism) driven demand. Consumer intent, supply and incentives matter, but they only change the market if installers can design, specify, fit, commission and support systems confidently and profitably.
The pace of change will depend on removing friction around cost, confidence, training, grid readiness, system design and consumer understanding, while also stimulating genuine demand beyond subsidy-led and replacement-led activity. The market will reward those who support today’s heating needs while making low-carbon adoption simpler, more affordable and more trusted.