Wessex man

The pretty Saxon hilltop town of Shaftesbury in Dorset is best known for Ridley Scott’s iconic Hovis advert of the 1970s, where a young delivery boy, complete with flat cap and thick Yorkshire accent, pushes his bike up a steep, cobbled lane. Perched on top of Gold Hill, where filming took place, and looking out over rolling countryside, it’s easy to see why this corner of the South West proved to be more reminiscent of Yorkshire than Yorkshire itself.

It’s apt that this is the home of the Wessex Group, the multifaceted building services concern originally founded as Wessex Electrical by ECA president Tony Morgan back in 1963. Morgan is as straight talking as any Yorkshireman and equally proud of his roots in the community.

Shaftesbury born and bred, Morgan set up Wessex following a craft apprenticeship with Southern Electricity Board. “I’ve nothing but great respect for them,” recalls Morgan. “We in the industry owe a debt of gratitude to the electricity boards. They were a prime source of trades people. Sadly, with the demise of the boards, that gap has never been refilled.”

While Morgan can thank Southern for a terrific apprenticeship, a large, nationalised company was never going to be the right environment for a young entrepreneur to flourish, so two years after qualifying as an electrician the time was right to strike out on his own. “Other than the electricity board, there were only a couple of small firms locally and self-employed electricians were unheard of, so it was quite a gamble,” he says.

The move paid off and the young Morgan was rewarded with a “good mix of work; a lot of domestic installations, some light industrial, a petrol filling station – work which is still typical of small firms today.”

From those humble origins, the Wessex Group now boasts four companies, a £16 million turnover, nearly 300 employees and ambitious plans to double sales in the next five years. “Mind you, each five year projection is usually achieved in about two and a half years,” laughs Morgan.

The original electrical business has diversified into fire and security, wider building services and catering equipment maintenance. “The growth will come from the diversity of the four companies,” explains Morgan. “We aim to be the UK’s number one commercial catering response company. That is a clear target.” It’s profitable too. Morgan confesses to a margin in excess of 5% across the group.

A definite spur for Morgan’s diversification plans for Wessex was the entry of his two sons into the business. Delegates at the ECA’s recent conference will know that succession planning was one of Morgan’s themes. While still chair of the group, 63 year-old Morgan has relinquished day-to-day running of the business; eldest son Simon is the group’s strategic director, younger son Alistair is the commercial director.

Morgan sees the group as a family business in its broadest sense. “Many of our guys have been with us 20 years or more. The longest serving member of staff has been with us 38 years. He started as an apprentice and is now a director and general manager of one of the subsidiary companies. I laugh when people say there is no such thing as a job for life any more. There is here. We have tremendous loyalty to our staff and we get it back.”

Each five year projection is usually achieved in about two and a half years

With the group in the safe hands of his sons, Morgan has been able to devote more time to the ECA, with which he has been involved since 1977. He was instrumental in setting up the Association’s fire and security group in 1992 and in his presidential year would like to see the ECA build on its partnerships with the likes of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) and the British Fire Protection Systems Association (BFPSA).

“I’d like to see us strike some really good strategic alliances,” says Morgan. “I don’t believe that anyone in this world today, and certainly not the ECA, can go it alone. I take enormous pride in the deal to extend the ECS card to the BFPSA and BSIA and we’ve already registered over 1000 operatives. That’s a classic example of bringing like-minded people together.”

Morgan’s passion is to help the smaller firms in the ECA to become more profitable. “There is very little management training out there,” points out Morgan. “It’s not something I’m proud of, but it has taken me a great many years, learning the hard way, to understand how to run a business.”

Morgan would like to see the ECA work more closely with the Federation of Small Businesses, Learning and Skills Council and Business Link. “We can help new members. When is the right time to take on people? Should I rent or buy my premises? Should I buy or lease a van?” Morgan thinks the regional structure of the ECA offers the perfect set-up to take this forward.

The introduction of electrical safety into the Building Regulations should see new ECA members as small firms seek to become registered as ‘competent persons’. Does he have any worries about the new Part P? “The concern for me is the area which is currently under discussion with the government over ‘limited scope’. You can’t on the one hand say you have to have fully qualified competent electricians to carry out electrical work per se, and then say you can completely rewire the kitchen but don’t have to have competence. I just would not want to see any form of watered down competence given to people who don’t deserve it.”

Despite this, Morgan is in favour of this “first step to true recognition and regulation to protect the consumer”. As to who will police it, Morgan sees house seller’s packs as key. “That is where the sting will come. If you’ve had dodgy work done, you’ll have to spend out to put it right.”

It promises to be a busy year for Morgan, both as ECA president and chair of the Wessex Group. He says he will stay on at the company “as long as his sons find me useful”. This sets him thinking about a mentoring role, and how it’s a pity that age and experience is not made better use of. Something tells me that his skills and knowledge will be of use for many years to come.