Andrew Iveson, managing director of SIAS Building Services, teaches Paul Braithwaite some of his business philosophies – and tells him how the firm has increased its turnover from £1M to £31M
Andrew Iveson describes himself as a posh plumber. But I feel the managing director of SIAS Building Services does himself an injustice.

He is the product of Mrs Thatcher's Youth Opportunities Scheme, and was apprenticed as an H&V fitter but then went on to study for an OND and an HND. And, anyway, it takes a lot more than that to run an m&e company - especially one that is turning over £31M.

Iveson joined what was then a small heating company 17 years ago; only his second job. It was owned by Peter Young and was turning over less than £1M.

Peter's son, Paul, joined the business too. Iveson bought into the business over the years and, when Peter Young retired, Iveson owned some 25% of the equity. 'But I was not interested in being an employee,' he says, and he and Young agreed a fifty-fifty
partnership.

Five years later, in 2005, he and eight middle managers bought Young's share. And, from that small beginning, turnover rose to £31M last year and he expects it to grow to around £33M next year.

'SIAS Building Services is a true m&e contractor and a facilities management firm.' It offers
a design and build capability and a facilities, service and maintenance arm, which is branded as Lifetime Care.

For the future, Iveson sees the FM side of the business growing faster than the m&e and eventually splitting off as a separate entity.
In total, there are about 280 directly employed staff. There are 80-plus in the offices and the rest on the road. Isn't this rather a lot of staff? Iveson insists a few years ago when many m&e contractors were shedding their specialist staff, he was employing them.

He drew my attention to HVR's annual Leaders supplement, where he says many of the companies with larger turnovers do not employ many staff but use sub-contractors. 'Our company wants to employ people, wants to develop them and wants to train them to give a better product to the client.'

Very selective
He admits that most of SIAS's work comes from existing clients, with the company picking up two or three more every year. And some of these new clients do not last. 'Of perhaps five new clients, we take on, only one or maybe two are compatible. We are very selective over the clients we work for.'

Most of SIAS' work is for developer builders. He cannot work just for contractors because 'if you look at a main contractor who just simply contracts, the only way they can make money is by making sure they have the keenest price from a sub-contractor'.

He says he is not in this market. His company, he admits, carries the overheads but is able to offer a 'really good package, engineered correctly, designed and installed in a way that it can be maintained correctly with a longevity which suits an end client'.

That said, SIAS must be doing something right as its client list reads like a who's who of blue-chip companies such as John Lewis and Asda in the retail sector or DeVere Hotels and the larger, well- respected main contractors.

Iveson says large contracts are anything greater than £1M, while the biggest the firm has undertaken is about £6.5M but then there is the Lifetime Care package. However, he adds, some branches have, by comparison, smaller contracts such as boiler house replacements often direct to the end user.

The head office is in Keighley which is also the northern operating centre; Midlands offices are in Crewe and Lincoln; and southern regional offices are in London, Peterborough and Basingstoke (which will move to Bristol soon).

'We work for national clients so how can we offer a two-hour attendance at a site if the engineer has got to come from Keighley? It makes sense to have regional offices. The strategic plan was to regionalise to offer the best service.'

Iveson's philosophy is for more engineers on the ground near to where they operate. And the regional offices are set to expand. He expects turnover to rise to £51M in three and a half years' time.

Has he reforecast for the recession? 'I do not believe this will have a major effect on my business but I am not ignoring it!' Why? In the 1989 recession, the company saw the best growth it ever had, he laughs. 'Companies which have a certain amount of rigour in them will survive.
Those that do not will have a very difficult time, and this could be an opportunity for those which do.'

Iveson sees the biggest growth from the Lifetime Care FM side of the business.
This business is worth £4M now but is forecast to grow to £15M (as part of the £51M total).

Substantial growth
He admits that much of the FM business has come on the back of capital projects but, if it is to grow substantially, then someone has to sell the FM service.

This is where Lifetime Care director Gary Coats comes in. And certain staff will be offered incentives for extending the Lifetime Care offer to the clients.

'We have a system in the company called The Ideal. This takes us from the initial meeting with the client all the way through to handover. When it gets near to the handover process, it automatically triggers an alert to the Lifetime Care supervisor in the area. And he will go to site, do an asset register, and put a proposal to maintain the site for the developer and/or end client.'

What the downturn in the economy means is that many developers will not start a project until the tenant has signed a lease or the building has been sold on. 'This is the only effect we have felt so far, ie not much speculative work being built.'

Nevertheless, he is still recruiting although he is conscious that as the turnover and profit build he is able to introduce efficiencies which mean more profit per person.
'Net profit is the most elusive. I have a very high opinion of what we should make each year,' he smiles.

This, he says, is why Lifetime Care is so important to the firm as its profits could bolster that.
He adds that, as well as regular cash, it puts the company closer to the client. And that way SIAS learns of new business quickly and is in a position to respond to this. 'We have a tenant and they want a fit-out and we have put your name forward.'

Iveson says his company goes for organic growth, although SIAS has acquired a couple of small works firms from other contractors.

However, Iveson says that, should a company come on the market for the right price, he will not turn it down but it will have to be a strategic fit.

As for training, he is a zealot. 'Because my training was so good, I am passionate about training and get quite upset with companies which do not have the same philosophy.'

Yes, he is aware that it costs far more to train a youngster than a company receives in grants but '...the flip side of it is that, if you have a trainee who is mentored properly, is the right person in the first place and you give him the right training, the skill is for life as is the loyalty to the company.'

And the training is across the m&e and FM divisions. And it is not just about apprenticeships. 'If you are proud of your company, proud of your employees, then you have to advance people. We have a culture of saying, 'He is a good lad or she's good, push them
forward'.'

And the spin off is the amount of goodwill which is generated, not just for the people involved but with the clients as well.

Iveson cites one manager who was in charge of four apprentices and he was offered a promotion.

'His first thoughts were not of money or the package, but that he had mentored four of the best trainees he had ever had and would do the new job if he were allowed to continue with the mentoring until they were out of the apprenticeship.'

And what about retentions? 'You have only to look at Leaders to see how small the net margins are of some companies.'

And, while he admits SIAS is only as good as its last job and would be quickly back on site if anything went wrong, he believes there should be some ABTA bond-type system for when things go wrong.

'The client is the person who gives you the next job.' It is a philosophy which will obviously permeate through the company and stand it in good stead.

Posh plumber indeed! In the six form at school, he went to work for the heating firm that employed his father. He had no idea what he was going to do with the rest of
his life.

'I enjoyed it and I was paid £1 an hour, and £40 a week at that time was a lot of money.' And when someone suggested he became an apprentice, he jumped at the chance only to find his wages reduced to £24 a week. He learned his first lesson here and this was to get everything in writing.

While at Leeds College of Building he did the H&V fitter course and welding. Later he did an ONC and an HNC. When it was quiet, he worked in the office. And, when it was busy, he worked on the tools. Then he left that company for SIAS. 'I have only ever worked for two companies,' he says.

So how does he see his job now? He sees the job as more strategic. 'And backing a strong and committed board which looks after the day-to-day business.'

Iveson admits that he has never had any specific management training but he listens - and he learns by his mistakes. 'I have learned more by making mistakes than I have by getting it right,'
he adds.

He is on a number of HVCA committees and, when they all talk together, he listens. And, if someone comes up with an idea which he thinks is a good one, he stores it away to use in the future.

'That's one of the value-added services you have in being involved in your sector association and peer companies. And this works for companies of all sizes.'
However, he adds that often he waits to see if the idea works. 'The larger companies will try out an idea and, if it doesn't work, they will abandon it.'

He admits that he is not doing anything new.