Gramham Lyall and his fellow directors at EIC all trained on the tools. This grounding gave them the ability to deal with their customers in this ever-changing business. Paul Braithwaite asks about the issues an m&e contractor has to deal with to keep the business growing now and in the future
EIC employs a small team of Eastern European workers.

Many of the contractors I have recently interviewed have said they intend to employ Eastern Europeans but as yet they have not.

Graham Lyall, financial director of Stratford-based EIC, insists they are good workers but he has found the company needs a team leader who can speak both languages well and has the ability to communicate with line managers and colleagues.

He is conscious of issues such as health and safety where the inability to communicate could be a barrier to good working practices.

In order to integrate the foreign workers into the workforce without existing workers feeling threatened, EIC also keeps the ratio of workers tipped in favour of the current team.

Perhaps it is this attention to detail which has allowed EIC to grow and prosper during the last 35 years.

EIC was founded by Graham's father, Ian, and two partners: Ken Lemarechal and John Howles.

These days, the board is made up of Graham and his two brothers, Ian and Stuart, Ken's son Nigel and John's daughter Dawn and four other long-standing directors. Plus, EIC has just put in place an operational board and promoted three operational managers on to it.

Graham says these three are the new blood that will help drive the company forward.

'Simply, they bring a different perspective. They have different qualities.'

Only John is left of the three founders who all started on the tools.

The second generation have been running the show for 10 years, says Graham. None of the founders was IT literate and this is one of the reasons that probably pushed them to retire, he adds.

And there will probably not be a third generation as only one grandchild has so far joined the business - as an electrical apprentice.

Graham says he never wanted to do anything else but join the firm and he and his brothers and Nigel Lemarechal all did their apprenticeships with the company.

Will his children join the firm?

Not unless they want to, Graham insists.

He says an apprenticeship on the tools has stood the directors in good stead now that they run the firm.

'We can talk to our clients as we understand the nuts and bolts of the business and they appreciate this. We are not run by accountants but by people who understand the industry.'

The business has changed, though. The founders were electricians and obviously concentrated on electrical contracting.

When Graham took over the split was about 80:20, electrical: mechanical.

But now the split is 60% electrical and 40% mechanical.

Plus there is a growing facilities management business.

Graham says the growth has also been driven by a design and build department. The company has around 10 designers.

Design and build, says Graham, is a fundamental change in the business and the marketplace. EIC is involved in projects much earlier than it used to be and it is much more common for the electrical and mechanical consultant to work for the contractors or to act independently for the client. Some now do only the initial design and hand it over to the m&e contractor.

He adds this has moved the responsibility.

In the past if the consultant did the design and got it wrong, it was his problem.

Now, however, it is the m&e contractor's responsibility.

'For us, the added responsibility means we need now, more than ever, to get it right first time.'

And it gives EIC's designers the chance to engineer-in savings for the client.

'Our engineers are practical people and can see as they design a project how that, for instance, by putting the trunking this way instead of that, they can save time and money.'

EIC works across a number of sectors such as schools, both new build and refurbishment, health care, and retail where the clients are blue chip such as Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and M&S.

Graham says the retailers are demanding but his company has learned to adapt to their needs and has therefore grown its business.

Plus, 'most of the retailers want us to do the maintenance as well'.
But not refrigeration, that is for specialists.

A labour shortage is the biggest barrier to growth along with not being able to recruit managers.

'The shortage of skilled labour has had a knock-on effect and consequently there are fewer project managers coming through.'

Hence the recruitment of Eastern European labour.

The company worked with an agency to make sure everyone would get what they wanted . After a short time, the men were taken on by the firm. But only used on certain sites.

'The reason we did it is because our competitors are doing it - many in a bigger way - and we cannot afford to be left behind.'

Even so, the directors have managed the integration, attaching the team to the Small Works division and only using them on jobs near the head office.

Graham says that one of the project managers from one of the clients was unhappy about the use of East Europeans in the workforce because, when dealing with another contractor on a previous job, he had been unable to communicate with them and they had broken health and safety rules. EIC's use of a team leader who can communicate solved that problem.

And, of course, as these workers learn more of the English language, then the problem goes away.

Further, only 10 Eastern Europeans out of a total workforce of around 500 hourly-paid plus 180 staff means they are a very small part of the organisation.

The company is national with regional offices across the country in Edinburgh, Leeds (with a satellite office in Gateshead), London (Harrow), Southampton, Plymouth and Redruth.

All have slightly different percentages of sector share across retail, leisure, education, health and commercial.

For instance, London and Southampton (Southern region) have a high percentage of education and health projects while the North enjoys a large retail and leisure market share. However, Graham believes the volume education spend started in the south is working its way north.

Stuart Lyall, services director, is in charge of training in conjunction with Dawn Howles, HR director.

Each region has at least one new apprentice - sometimes two - per year, plus six at head office which means about 20 new apprentices a year across EIC.

Apprentices are getting older. Whereas when Graham was apprenticed, most were 16 or 17 years old when they started, nowadays, they are 18 and 19 and this is to do with them staying at college longer, suggests Graham.

'Some years ago, we were struggling to get youngsters to take up apprenticeships. They had to get their hands dirty and it was cold and wet.

'Now, they can see that an apprenticeship is a start. Schools have cottoned on to building services as a worthwhile career, '

EIC has links with local schools for work experience and a more structured arrangement recruiting bright school leavers.

Technical trainees are taken on straight from school and moved around the business. So are those apprentices who stand out and they can choose whether they would like to work in design, estimating, project management or stay on the tools.

Twenty apprentices a year seems a lot but Graham says it is important for the firm and the industry to bring them in.

Has EIC reached its peak? There are still places to go, says Graham.
The regions are all at different stages of development.

For instance, the South Western region turns over £10million plus. The North and Scotland are nowhere near that figure so there is potential there.

'We will try to develop every opportunity, based on our experiences in other parts of the business. It all hinges on the quality of the regional manager and the team he has built around him.'

Graham's background in the company gives him a good understanding of the risks - and the opportunities.

It is the same with growth. Last year, the company turned over about £74million.

In five years' time Graham expects turnover to be more than £100million but he is more interested in maintaining (and growing) his profits.

And the growth, Graham insists, will be 'managed organic'.

'Our area of project expertise is about £1million to £3million and, although we consider projects over £5 million, we will continue to pursue growth in the lower value bracket.'

Graham and his fellow directors insist that winning is all about relationships and they do their best to build them.

'We never tender for a job without a conversation and if we don't win one or two tenders out of 10 or 12, then we ask why?'

And, he says, keeping the main contractor happy is also high on the list.

It is all about knowing the industry and it is apparent that the main drivers of the business will be those who have come up on the tools for the foreseeable future.