Everyone should want a snug home.
Adam and Ian didn’t doubt the problem. UK homes leak heat. Bills keep rising. Carbon targets slip further. What frustrated them was how familiar all of this sounded - and how little seemed to change as a result. They’d already done their homework: investor conversations, government schemes, retrofit economics, overseas models. The logic stacked up. Yet something felt fragile. There was too much explanation. Too many moving parts. Too much effort is required from the homeowner before anything even begins.
Our early conversations remained intentionally informal. We discussed their own experiences attempting to repair heating in their homes - discovering that most boilers are technically safe but quietly inefficient. We talked about how simple adjustments, like flow temperature, can make a significant difference. And we discussed why so many “green” proposals fall apart when faced with real people, real houses, and real uncertainty.
What became clear was that Snug Home wasn’t solely about boilers, heat pumps, or EPC ratings - even though all of those mattered. It was about removing friction from a system that demands too much upfront from homeowners: knowledge, confidence, and cash.
The founders’ instinct to reverse the model - covering initial costs and allowing people to pay back based on actual savings - was already a reframe. But it was being overshadowed by mechanics.
We spent time examining assumptions. Did people need to understand the entire retrofit process? Or just feel assured that it would make their home warmer, cheaper to run, and increase its value? Was the true customer motivation carbon reduction, or comfort, predictability, and reassurance? And if EPC ratings were already available, why weren’t they informing more of the story?
Gradually, the focus shifted. From promoting an energy programme to providing a sense of control. From promising future benefits to delivering immediate comfort. From addressing a complex national challenge to tackling a very domestic one, this home could feel more comfortable to live in.
The “What if...” question naturally arose from those conversations. What if Snug Home felt less like an energy company and more like a quiet household upgrade? What if the language used drew from familiar, trusted consumer experiences - simple, calm, confident - rather than policy or infrastructure? What if the brand didn’t aim to persuade, but instead made the decision seem obvious?
That reframing unlocked momentum. A visual identity, tone of voice, and early applications - app, website, vehicle livery - became tools to test clarity rather than final outcomes. Even ideas like sharing free, practical advice (simple efficiency wins, no commitment required) reinforced the same belief: trust is built by helping first, not by hard selling.
Snug Home didn’t leave the conversation with a louder proposal. It left with a quieter one - but one that held together. A business grounded in lived experience, designed to make a complex transition feel manageable, and focused less on fixing the system all at once than on improving one home at a time.