April 29th 2026 was a momentous day in Connected Response with the retirement of David Stern. David was part of the ‘Gang of Three’ from Day One in early 2019 alongside co-founders, Martin Ade-Hall (Technical Director) and Kenny Cameron (Managing Director).
David and Kenny worked together in 2017-18 at VCharge, a subsidiary of OVO Energy. VCharge was funded via the Scottish Government Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Partnership (LCITP) programme to install smart controls in around 300 homes in Glasgow to optimise storage heating systems and to provide flexibility services. The project ended prematurely at the end of 2018 but was the catalyst for the formation of Connected Response. Connected Response has since applied many of the lessons learned from the LCITP project; which is why, of course, Governments fund innovation!
For many years previously, David had led shopping mall energy sales teams from Aberdeen to Teesside for British Gas, E.ON and OVO. He harboured the frustration that none of these major suppliers had anything to offer households other than 40-year-old tariffs such as Economy 7. This has always been his driver; to prove that storage heating households deserved better tariffs with wider changing windows, contributing to improved comfort, reduced consumption, and lower bills.
Between August 2021 and March 2024, Connected Response HeatSage controls were installed, in partnership with City Building, in over 8,000 Wheatley Homes Glasgow flats, including over 100 tower blocks and mini-towers, and many low-rise estates. David’s hand was on the tiller throughout, leading all engagement activities with Housing Officers, tenants, contractors and energy suppliers; often providing support and advice above and beyond the initial agreed scope. He also supported projects across the UK including a major project with the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea in 2020 at Trellick Tower, which has been described as both the ugliest and the most beautiful tower block in the UK; beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder! On this project, in-between Covid lockdowns, Martin and David spent many days in West London liaising with tenants and frequenting ice cream parlours!
In the last three years, David has mentored Stephen Gray as his successor as well as building skills across all members of his tenant engagement team. His retirement plans include catching up with family, travelling, and playing a little more golf. All of these pleasures are richly deserved after the selfless manner in which he has committed to improving the fortunes of the most disadvantaged fuel-poor energy consumers. One of his mantras has been to ‘make existing storage heaters work better, rather than consigning tens of thousands of functional units to landfill’.
On his final day, David was presented with a panoramic view of Glasgow, with smaller images of all the towers that David has worked on over the years, and some wonderful gifts from colleagues and friends including a 4-ball at Pitlochry Golf Club and a bottle of 14-year-old Glenfiddich malt whisky.
Enjoy your retirement, David!