The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Bright idea sparks friends into setting up new Dundee electricals contractor START-UP: Electricals firm PME Dundee was formed by three friends last year. Here, Dave Page talks about the new venture
Q. Why did you start in business?
The three of us – Grant McConnachie, Martin Hay and myself – worked together previously and on a get together we began discussing the collapse of Scottish Electric Group.
I was retired but we felt there was a real need for a smaller electrical company in the city to fill the gap.
It felt like an ideal opportunity and we believed our combined experience of over 45 years in the industry would set us in good stead to turn it into a success.
We had the contacts, skills and experience and we believed that bringing in the right young people would allow us to offer a range of electrical contract work throughout the region to both commercial and domestic clients.
Q. How did you get to where you are?
We all have a broad range of technical and commercial knowledge as well as management experience.
The three of us have electrical qualifications and have worked in both the public and private sectors.
I also owned a successful contracting business for many years. PME took off very quickly as we secured contracts with large organisations including universities, colleges and tech companies.
Q. Who has helped you along the way?
Business Gateway has been really helpful. We approached them at the start and we were introduced to Donna Williamson who helped steer us in the direction of possible funding and supported us with business matters.
We thought we knew everything but with Donna’s guidance we were able to fill in the gaps in our knowledge.
We were also introduced to the Enterprise Tayside HR support scheme which gave us a good insight into taking on staff and human resources.
Q. Your greatest achievement to date?
When we told people our projected turnover for year one, they thought we were mad. However, we are on course to turn over at least double what we predicted, which is absolutely fantastic.
Q. Hopes for the future?
We would like to establish PME as a stable company which creates genuine job opportunities for young people in the area.
Q. Do you want to recruit in the future?
We have a team of nine now and we hope to increase this.
Q. What is the hardest thing about running your own business?
I’m not a big fan of paperwork but what’s so great about PME is the three of us work well together and take control of the areas we are best at.
Q. Advice to wannabe entrepreneurs? Be confident in your own abilities.
Make sure you’ve done your homework to make sure you can deliver and speak to Business Gateway and take advantage of the free advice on offer.
Q. How do you relax?
All three of us are sporty and enjoy keeping active by playing golf.