Interview: Roger Mawson, South West Plumbing Services

Our technical manager, Jerry Whiteley, and development director, Richard Soper, met with CIPHE member Roger Mawson, managing director at South West Plumbing Services. Here he discusses his experiences of working in the plumbing and heating industry over the last year and what the future holds for his business.

What has the last year been like for your business?

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been felt by all businesses, especially at the beginning when uncertainty was at its highest. For us, we noticed a reduction in business at the start of 2020 as customers postponed work. In fact, we only did emergency work at the peak of the pandemic. Unfortunately, we also lost staff in 2020 including two apprentices. It was a difficult year, but positive support from our local authority meant that we were able to access a business support grant and a loan.

As 2020 progressed, business started to increase and, while still working under COVID-19 rules, we were able to get back to a much stronger position. In fact, the start of 2021 saw a marked increase in business and we are forecasting a strong period leading up to autumn.

What are the biggest challenges your business and the wider industry are facing right now?

The skills shortage and finding workers who are both qualified and experienced is a real issue.

We are looking at investing in more apprentices, however, our biggest concern is the retention of apprentices after their training is complete.

As an industry we definitely need more skilled workers and a marked increase in those entering the profession to boost numbers.

What has changed and are you optimistic about the future?

Coming out of the pandemic has made us stronger and I think we can cope with almost anything now. Overall, we are pleased to have retained the majority of our customers throughout this time.

For the future, we are strengthening our position in renewables, as we see this as a growth area in the coming years. Air source heat pump enquiries, for example, are increasing, so we are looking at training and ways to work with low-carbon technologies in the future.

Where do the biggest opportunities lie for your business and the plumbing and heating industry?

Sustainable heating is definitely a big area of growth and as the UK heads toward a low-carbon future we are only going to see more demand for it.

It is interesting to see how new technologies such as hydrogen boilers could become a reality in the coming years too and we’ll need to be preparing for such a shift if that happens.

It will also be important for the industry to keep on adding value in order to build trust with customers. To this end, we are proud to have a showroom in Torquay that is open to the public, so that our customers can discuss their heating and hot water requirements with us in a friendly and relaxed environment. We also have a range of Worcester Bosch boiler models on display.

Under our ‘Proud to Be a Professional’ banner, the CIPHE is embarking upon a campaign to tackle the menace of rogue traders in the UK. What are your views on the rogue element that exists and persists?

Unfortunately, we often see the effects of poor installation work and spend time rectifying issues for customers who have lost trust in the previous engineer they employed. We always try to educate our customers and explain to them how important it is to make sure whoever they employ is a professional and to not go on price alone. Being a member of the CIPHE is important to demonstrate our commitment to delivering safe, reliable, and quality plumbing and heating works. As a company we are vocal about how our company is proud to be a professional.