Tuesday June 17th 2025
Gensource Managing Director Josh King, Commercial Director Robert Wilson and 3rd Executive Director Gregor Thake
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Musselburgh based renewable energy company, Gensource, pride themselves on their vision and values, focusing on community projects in and outside of East Lothian.
Started in December 2022 by co-founders, Josh King and Robert Wilson, Gensource recently won ‘High Growth Buisness of the Year’ at the Midlothian and East Lothian 2025 Business Awards. The renewable energy company is a data driven partner for helping people decarbonise and save money on their energy costs, helping a wide variety of people, from individuals, businesses and charities.
Being a sustainable energy services company, they handle everything sustainable energy related from designs, supplies, installation, testing, commissioning.
Commercial Director, Robert Wilson explained, “We are a data driven partner with strong consulting, assisting community groups to private corporations looking for advice. We are an impact driven bunch. A business of this size, at this age, we both get involved in all sorts. I mainly handle the commercial sales, finance, project delivery and day-to-day running where Josh is more technical, handling more of the people and the strategy.”
“Personally, I fell into the renewable energy sector, I finished my economics degree and didn’t want corporate life. I started working with my dad installing solar thermals and that’s where I met Josh, who was the director at his previous company and I just asked for a job in the office.”
Registering the company in December 2022, Robert and Josh began the business after working at the same company and initially meeting at their local gym. After working well together they began to draft up their vision in Josh’s spare bedroom in his Musselborough home, both working part-time for Gensource up until the beginning of 2023.
Managing Director Josh King explained, “My journey into renewable energy is that I was a physics teacher in China in 2012. I was in a city with a 10 million population and it was one of those iPhone factory cities. It was very smoggy in 2012, peak smog and you couldn’t see 10 metres infront of you.
“There was one photo I had but I lost it, which I used to show when people said wind turbines spoiled a view. It was the kids from my class playing basketball on the ground floor outside. I was on the 2nd floor and you couldn’t see any of the kids because of the smog, you could only see the orange ball, some hands and the basketball nets because it was just so smoggy. It was quite depressing, you finished a class and you weren’t allowed to go outside and I was wearing a 3m mask cycling to work.”
That’s when Josh decided he would come back to Scotland, go back to university to study renewable energy and enter the renewables industry. Ending up in the north of Scotland at a solar company in 2014, he began in a junior role working his way up until he met Robert who at the time was working at the same company after previously installing solar panels with his dad.
Gensource Managing Director Josh King, Commercial Director Robert Wilson and Executive Director Gregor Thake
Josh being from Leith and Robert making plans to study environmental sustainability at Edinburgh Napier University, they moved back down to Edinburgh and began the initial plan of Gensource in Josh’s spare room, finally being settled in the Fisherrow Centre in Musselburgh.
“We both lived in Edinburgh”, Josh explained, “We had previously worked at similar companies and just had a lot of respect for each other because I used to look at Robert at the previous company we were at and think, if everyone else here got hit by a bus he could do all their jobs.”
Highlighting that Josh could handle the sales, project management, technical design and finance, Josh knew Robert was the right person to help him with his vision of creating Gensource.
Spending the first six to nine months out of Josh’s spare room using some spare money. They have now expanded to their office in The Fisherrow Centre, a warehouse in Broxburn and workers across the country, in places like Dunfermline and Dundee, all working on projects.
The Fisherrow Centre is a community centre in Musselborough that provides charities and companies with offices and facilties.
“One of the reasons we are situated in Musselborough is due to the Fisherrow Centre”, Josh explained, “We like the fact that our rent is going to a community trust.”
Supporting the Fisherrow Centre is only one of Gensource’s ways of helping local communities, taking pride in implementing community projects into their visions and values. Gensource has helped charitable organisations in and outside of East Lothian, for example, Glasgow Community Energy, Men’s Sheds Association and Cycling Without Age.
Cycling Without Age is a volunteer-run organisation that gets people outside by providing free trishaw rides through Musselburgh. Gensource and The Fisherrow Centre saved the charity when they were asked to leave their Brunton Court trishaw storage facilty by the East Lothian Council in March, leaving them with nowhere to store the trishaws they use. This is where Gensource stepped in, erecting a shed on land provided by the Fisherrow Centre, providing all the materials needed and solar panels to charge the electric trishaws.
Following the official opening of the new storage facility, Cycling Without Age co-founder, Morna Dawson, said, “There was a point we thought the lack of suitable storage would mean an end to Cycling Without Age in Musselburgh. But when Ewan (co-founder of Cycling Without Age) approached The Fisherrow Centre they were adamant they would help make it happen.”
“They roped in Gensource who’ve built us this amazing shed – it even has solar panels on top to charge up the bike. It’s the community spirit and support we receive from the local community that keeps us going and we’re very grateful.”
Alongside providing the materials and planning the new storage facility, Robert and Josh took it upon themselfs to personally build the shed and install the solar panels.
Josh King and Robert Wilson constructing Cycling Without Age's new storage facility
Josh explained, “We bought the materials, the shed, the foundations, everything. We erected it, we solar powered it, then handed it over. We still technically maintain it now. I think it’s good to consider that a partnership with The Fisherrow Centre. We have a charity budget and we want to use some of our earnings every year bto give back.”
Robert agreed, explaining, “They were getting kicked out and needed a new home, Fosherrow Centre gifted the space for a new home, we bought and built the new home and put solar on it.”
“You’ve got a local charity, The Fisherrow Centre being a community trust and us, a local business, all coming together to make sure the charity has a new home and to keep providing a good service. We dont want our charitable work to just be a money donation, we want to be more involved in it. Being hands on, which is much better than just handing over check”.
With Josh working part-time for Gensource until January 2023 and Robert until May 2023, the two partners have now had over two years fully-invested into the company. With plans to expand their office space in The Fisherrow Centre and growing their team to 12 full-time workers by the end of the year, Gensource’s goal is to be the most established energy specialists in Scotland whilst remaining very engaged and supportive in community groups and local charities.
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