CONTRACTOR PROFILE // WESSEX ELECTRICALS COMPANY: Wessex Electricals BASED: Shaftesbury, Dorset FOUNDED: 1963 MAJOR PROJECTS: Marks & Spencer, Royal Berkshire Hospital STAFF NUMBERS: 90 TURNOVER: £12 million
The wonder of Wessex Since its foundation 50 years ago by Tony Morgan, Wessex Electricals has evolved into one of the larger contracting businesses in the south of England. Now run by his two sons, the company intends to grow still further Alistair Morgan
By Nick Martindale
B
ack in 1963, a newly qualified electrician by the name of Tony Morgan decided to start his own electrical business, operating out of his mother’s garage and mainly working on domestic and light industrial projects. Half a century later, the business is still going strong, but is almost unrecognisable from its humble origins. Now operated by Tony’s two sons, Simon and Alistair, Wessex Electricals is part of Wessex Group – an entity that also includes Wessex Fire & Security, Wessex Building Services, Wessex HVAC & Plumbing and Wessex Catering Maintenance, and which collectively turned over £31.3 million at the end of its last financial year. Today, Wessex Electricals – which turns over £12 million on its own – undertakes a variety of work, both on new projects and maintenance. Around half of its work on the former is direct with end-clients such as Royal Berkshire Hospital, Wiltshire County Council and several independent schools, with the
26
Autumn 2013 Connections
26-29_contractorprofile.FINAL.indd 26
remainder through main contractors, including Balfour Beatty, Kier Group and VINCI Construction. With maintenance, around 70 per cent tends to be direct, says Alistair, with the remaining 30 per cent through FM organisations. “A great deal of our work on both fronts is public-sector related, so schools, housing authorities and councils,” he says. The company takes on work in a patch spreading from Oxford in the east and South Wales in the west and everything south of that line, on contracts ranging from £100,000 to £2.5 million. “We’ve held Wiltshire Council – previously Salisbury District Council – unbroken now for 37 years and we’ve had a large maintenance contract with Marks & Spencer for over five years,” says Alistair. “Raglan Housing Association in Reading is another large client and we’ve had that for three years, having previously worked on the contract as a sub-contractor to Connaught.” Gradual growth It’s all a far cry from the days when Tony first set up the business in the 1960s, after initially undertaking an www.electricalsafetyregister.com
25/09/2013 15:02