Electrical contractor sparks into life as sales top £1 million

Company hails outstanding year in which turnover jumps by 60%

A Fife electrical contractor has added 10 new staff to its workforce after securing a huge upsurge in work.

Cupar-based Daniel Gardner Electrical Contractor saw its order books top £1 million in the year to April, a 60% rise on the previous year, as it secured a raft of new orders including a £150,000 contract with Balcaskie Estate, the seat of the Anstruther family.

To service the growth, Gardner’s more than doubled its workforce, taking its headcount from seven to 17 in the past 12 months.

The firm, led by managing director Daniel Gardner, 31, is now focusing on consolidating its position and ensuring it has the right infrastructure in place to continue to grow.

The firm launched a new website in February and will shortly go-live with a new operational management system which is designed to streamline the job allocation and overview process and free up management time to look for new opportunities.

“It’s been an outstanding 12 months,” operations and systems manager Kieran Hunter said.

“The majority of our work is secured through word-of-mouth referrals from happy customers who appreciate our professionalism and reliability.

“The contracts secured last year have allowed us to take on staff who have the professional and personal skills needed to work with our clients, while the refreshed website provides us with an up-to-date ‘shop window’ which has already generated leads.

“Our focus now is to launch our operational management system and continue the process of obtaining ISO 9001 with the help of Business Gateway Fife.”

Lynne Baillie of Business Gateway said: “By working with a specialist the company, whose staff have over 150 years’ combined experience in the sector, has gained a clearer understanding of what processes need to be put in place to help them grow further.”

Having completed his apprenticeship with a local heavy engineering business, founder Daniel Gardner has no regrets about setting out on his own. His firm now works across the domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors undertaking everything from rewiring commercial and residential properties to appliance testing.

“Setting up on my own was a natural progression,” Mr Gardner said.

“I started out doing small domestic jobs at night and weekends and word spread about the quality of my work and things grew from there.”

Pictures: DTX Images. Founder Daniel Gardner, back, centre, with members of his growing team.

Operations and systems manager Kieran Hunter.