Insights
My career started with a full electrical apprenticeship at Ardmore Construction. Four years on large new-build schemes — hotels, schools, social centres and car parks. A lot of the work used pre-wired pods built in Ardmore's factory in Enfield, and I spent a great deal of time on containment, trained properly and held to a main-contractor standard.
Along the way came the qualifications: City & Guilds Level 2 and 3, NVQ Level 3, the AM2, the 2391 in inspection and testing, and my ECS Black Card. But the real education was on site.
Lesson one: standards are set by the best job on site, not the average
Large commercial sites teach you that someone is always checking. The clerk of works, the main contractor, the next trade who has to follow you. You learn to do it right first time because there is no hiding place. That is the standard I have tried to build into every business I have run since.
Lesson two: see the other side of the industry
After my apprenticeship I moved to a company working in social housing. It was a completely different world: occupied homes, tenants, full rewires, chasing walls, testing house after house. It gave me the domestic side to go with the commercial, and it taught me how to work in people's homes with respect.
Lesson three: say yes to the next level
In 2010 I set up my own company. We started on high-end new builds around Hertfordshire, including several multi-million-pound homes, and those projects pushed us well beyond wiring — into data and AV, sound systems, Lutron lighting control, blinds, Wi-Fi, rack builds, cinema rooms and specialist lighting. Each new request was a chance to learn another discipline.
Lesson four: the paperwork is part of the job
When we moved into social housing as a contractor, I learned that great work is not enough if you cannot evidence it. That is where our photographic audits of every job came from, along with the financial and operational controls that let a business grow without losing grip.
Lesson five: you do not have to carry everything alone
In June 2024 I merged my business with Russell Solts, who had his own electrical company, to form SEG Group. Russell leads commercial and finance; I lead operations. Having a partner halved the load of fighting for improvements on every front and let me focus on what I enjoy most: processes, efficiency and delivery.
What I would tell an apprentice today
Learn the trade properly. Take every qualification seriously. Say yes to work that stretches you. And remember that the habits you build in your first four years — tidiness, pride, doing it right first time — are the same habits that build a company.