In the last few weeks alone, we’ve welcomed two brilliant businesses to the British Engineering Services Group family, completed construction at the fantastic Paul Forrester Training Centre and continued to help make sure our customers leave nothing to chance.  All that on top of our brilliant business results.  In 2020 we delivered our strongest year yet and, what’s more, we’ve done it while helping keep carers across the UK and Ireland, caring, exactly when it was needed most.  Our people have remained professional right to the very end, completing testing, inspection and certification work on machinery and equipment in hospitals, care homes, medical centres, research facilities and so much more.

Most recently, we welcomed PCMS Eng and Lantei to the Group.  Adding new businesses to our company brings with it huge opportunities for us all.  These acquisitions will help us further develop our customer offerings as we continue to differentiate ourselves in our market.  PCMS Eng is a leading condition-based maintenance business based in Rotherham.  Their people are the best in their field and they’re a perfect fit for the British Engineering Services Group.

Lantei is an electrical testing business based in Preston with a team of almost 150 people.  They provide a range of specialist services that we already know will be of interest to some of our customers.  Like us, their people are at the centre of their success and their culture is already closely aligned to that of the British Engineering Services Group.  We’re absolutely delighted to have welcomed both teams to the Group.  We know they’ll have a real impact on our company and we’re looking forward to working alongside them.

It’s almost a year since we announced our plans to open our very own training centre and I’m delighted to share that we have done just that.  It’s been a very busy few weeks on this front as we’ve added the final touches to our industry leading facility.  Construction is now complete, new kit and equipment is in place and, most recently, the branding has been installed.  Everyone who has visited the site so far has been blown away by what we’ve done to create our own training centre.  It’s a fantastic achievement all round and we couldn’t have been prouder when we completed the build stage just a few weeks ago.  I look forward to formally celebrating the opening of our facility next year when it’s safe to do so.

We recruited more than 85 fantastic new starters in 2020.  Our recruitment plans are busy again for next year as we continue to focus on capacity and ensuring we can always meet the needs of our customers as we continue to grow.  Our new starters will all spend much of their training period at our new facility, learning from some of the very best people there are in our industry.

Finally, I’d like to thank all of our customers and broker partners, your continued support has been more appreciated than ever as we’ve navigated the challenges of the year together.  As we get ready for what is set to be a very different Christmas for us all, I’d like to wish you all the very best for the festive season.  We look forward to working with you all again next year.

Lantei is an electrical testing business based in Preston with a team of almost 150 people.  The company’s North West roots and drive for managing risk for their customers makes them a great fit for the British Engineering Services Group as we continue to focus on growth and development.

Along with electrical testing, Lantei provides specialist services including thermal imaging, emergency light testing, EV charging, portable appliance testing, TEGG Services, professional training via Lantei Learning and more.  Their team of 80 Engineers is spread across the UK in line with the requirements of their customers.  They work with many large and high-profile businesses including David Lloyd fitness, Nuffield Health, Marriott Hotels, many NHS Trusts and Housing Associations and much, much more.

“Adding Lantei to our Group is another brilliant opportunity for us.  They have an excellent reputation and their business results and growth over recent years are extremely impressive.  This is clearly the result of lots of hard work from their team.

Welcoming this specialist company to the Group will help us continue to enhance our electrical proposition and expand our specialist electrical offering for our customers.  The family formed business already shares many similarities with ours and we know it will continue to operate successfully as a sister company to our existing business and electrical division,” said Paul Hirst, MD of Inspections.

“This is great timing for both companies.  We’ve both had a really strong 2020 and are looking for the next step for our businesses as we continue to deliver an industry leading service for our customers.  Joining the British Engineering Services Group will allow us to focus on building an even better future for Lantei and our team,” Andrew Livesey, Managing Director at Lantei.

Lantei is the fourth company to join the British Engineering Services Group since we became an independent business five years ago, and the second this year following the successful acquisition of PCMS Engineering last month.  On top of this, we were pleased to welcome Non Destructive Testing company Nortest to our business in 2016 and specialist tanker inspection company UK Road Tanker Inspections in 2019.

2020 has seen significant growth for the British Engineering Services Group with the two successful businesses joining us adding to our impressive organic growth.  We’ve continued to put our customers first providing the very best service with no compromise ever as we’ve navigated the many challenges of the year.  Welcoming both Lantei and PCMS will allow us to further widen our product base and offer a unique and varied service for our customers.

For more information about Lantei, visit their website https://lantei.co.uk/

The condition-based monitoring company assess machinery and equipment, helping keep businesses operational.  Their innovative and flexible approach means they can always put the needs of their customers first, no matter what.  They work closely with many manufacturing businesses world-wide who rely on their skills to prevent disruption, loss of production and cost caused by unexpected failures.

Adding the PCMS business to our Group will really help us expand our product set in an area that we haven’t previously offered, for which many of our customers are already showing a keen appetite.  This is another huge step forward for our company as we continue to expand our customer proposition and differentiate ourselves from others in the market.  With an industry leading approach that mirrors so much of our wider business, welcoming the specialist engineering condition monitoring company to our family is a great move for the British Engineering Services Group.

The company, which has been on its own acquisitive journey over recent years to form the four unique brands it operates under today, Practice Care Maintenance Services, Vibration Control Ltd, VCI Consultancy Ltd and Vibrotech Reliability Ltd, is happy to be joining our business where their ongoing growth and development will be fully supported.  Andy Chater, Managing Director, will continue to lead the business and their team of more than 40 people.

“Joining such a well-established and successful business is a great opportunity for us.  We’re excited to be a part of something so special and look forward to growing and developing together over the coming years,” said Andy.

“We’re absolutely delighted to have the PCMS team join the British Engineering Services Group family.  We were excited by this company as soon as we were introduced to them.  Their people are the very best in their industry and their innovative and focused approach is impressive.

We’re confident that adding PCMS to the Group will have a positive impact on our wider business.  We’re looking forward to getting to know both the team and their customers over the coming weeks,” commented Dave Vaughan, MD of Testing and Consultancy.

PCMS is the third company to join the British Engineering Services Group since we became an independent business five years ago.  We were pleased to welcome Non Destructive Testing company Nortest to our business in 2016 and specialist tanker inspection company UK Road Tanker Inspections in 2019.  Our acquisitive growth plan continues to be a focus for us and we couldn’t be happier with the progress we’ve made so far.

For more information about PCMS Engineering, visit their website https://pcmseng.co.uk/  or contact Craig Morris by emailing craig.morris@briteng.co.uk

We’ve really set the benchmark high across the British Engineering Services Group, and our approach to training is a brilliant example of this. With the launch of our very own training centre now just around the corner, things on this front just keep getting better and better (and our recent Princess Royal Training Award is living proof of this!) Construction is well underway and we’re looking forward to officially opening the doors later this year.

The facility, which stands at more than 18,000 sq ft, is located in Birchwood, Warrington, easy to access from the M62 and just a stone throw from Manchester, where we started our journey many years ago. With plenty of indoor and outdoor space, the centre is currently being fitted with much of the essential machinery and equipment needed to give our Engineer Surveyors the very best, hands on training in one place.

We’ve gone from strength to strength since becoming an independent business five years ago and we’re growing and welcoming new customers all the time. On top of this, we’re continually recruiting to support our impressive growth, making sure we can always meet the needs of our customers, on time, every time.

The Paul Forrester Training Centre, named after our friend and colleague who sadly passed away last year, will be ‘home’ for our many new starters as they come onboard. They’ll spend their first few weeks with our business completing the most thorough training programme. And with so much of their learning happening in one place, they’ll be ready to support our customers quicker than ever before, with no compromise to quality and safety whatsoever. For our existing people, we’ll focus on cross and upskilling, adding new modules to the skillsets of many in line with our customer needs as we continue to grow.

“Our people and our customers come before everything else and what better way to show our commitment to both than by launching our very own training centre. This is a great move for the British Engineering Services Group and is a real investment in the future of our company. We have always been proud of our approach to training and this significant development will help ensure we are always able to give our customers the very best level of service as we continue to work with more and more organisations,” said Stewart Kay, Group CEO.

Our ability to action our plans quickly is just one of our strengths as a business. In less than 12 months, we’ve scoped out the requirements of our training centre, found the perfect location and are just weeks away from officially opening the facility.

Watch this space for more information about our state-of-the-art training centre.

For small farms we’re offering a set price based on a fixed number of assets (or pieces of machinery/ equipment needing to be inspected) to help make life a little easier.  Your machinery inspections are much more than a ‘nice to have’ and we all know they be left to chance.  Maintaining a thorough examination schedule will not only help keep you and your people safe, it’ll help make sure your machinery (and farm) stays operational for as long as possible. 

And don’t forget, your inspections are also essential when it comes to helping keep you legally compliant.  At Vulcan Inspection Services we really know our stuff.  Our team of experts know everything there is to know about the relevant legislation, so you don’t have to

Leave nothing to chance with Vulcan Inspection Services.

For more information about our new ‘small farm’ product, get in touch with our team by emailing info@vulcaninspect.co.uk

Our close relationship with NFU Mutual, which goes back more than 20 years, means we’re well versed in the needs of their customers.  Together, we’re created a new offering that will make things easier for many small farms and NFUM Agents.  And that’s what’s important to us.    

Based on feedback from NFUM Agents and customers, we’re just weeks away from the launch of our brand new “Small Farm” product.  Via this route, customers with just a few assets (or pieces of machinery/ equipment needing to be inspected) can take advantage of our services for a fixed price.  It really is that simple. 

With our enhanced product offering launching at the beginning of November, we’re just weeks away from making it even easier for NFUM customers to stay safe and legally compliant.  

At Vulcan Inspection Services, we make sure everyone gets home safe.  Prioritising machinery and equipment inspections helps puts the safety of our customers and their people first.  What’s more, we’ll make sure their businesses are compliant with all of the relevant legislation, giving peace of mind that they’re always fully protected.  

For more information about our “Small Farm” offering get int touch with the team by emailing info@vulcaninspect.co.uk or calling or calling 01789 455322.

Firstly, I’m delighted to share that we are a proud recipient of a Princess Royal Training Award for 2020.  It was fantastic to receive this news.  We worked hard to ensure our application really brought to life everything we’re doing on the training front.  We’ve made significant progress in this area since becoming British Engineering Services and getting acknowledged for this formally is just the icing on the cake.

The timing of this award could not be better, with every week bringing us closer to the opening of our new training centre.  It’s amazing to see our plans being brought to life and, again, we’re grateful to everyone involved for helping make sure we haven’t had to take our foot off the gas with this over recent months.  We worked hard to find a location that really suits our needs and I am convinced it was worth the effort, this is definitely the place for us.  The space is fantastic and our people will undoubtedly benefit from spending time here as they progress their career with us.  Again, safety will continue to be our number one priority and the layout will easily allow the most extensive training, from some of the most skilled industry experts, at a safe distance.

We have spent the last few weeks talking about The Paul Forrester Training Centre internally and the excitement of our people is unreal!  This is a huge investment in the future of the British Engineering Services Group and a real sign of things to come for our company.

Our focus will always sit firmly on the safety of our people and our customers, regardless of the circumstances.  We’re proud to be giving you the service you deserve, with no compromise, ever.  And we’re even prouder of the fantastic British Engineering Services team who continue to pull out all the stops to help make sure we can achieve this.  I’ve said it before, we really do have the very best people working for us and I am grateful to each of every one of them for their hard work and ‘can do’ attitude.

Providing you with a consistently brilliant service, albeit in a slightly different way as we adhere to government guidelines around social distancing and PPE etc, will remain high on our agenda.  Whether it’s your routine inspections or specialist testing work as you re-open your business after a period of downtime, we’re here to help make sure nothing is left to chance.

Our independence as a business has always been something we’ve been extremely proud of.  For British Engineering Services, being able to make a decision, change our ways of working, enhance our systems, and so much more, so quickly is just one of the many things that stands us above the rest.  The ability to do this while navigating the challenges of the last few months has been particularly beneficial for our business. We’ve been able to flex around your needs, to not only keep you safe and operational now, but ensure we continue to do so as more and more businesses come back online.

This, coupled with our innovative approach, has really kept us moving forward and we’re delighted to be working with new businesses all the time.  For our broker partners, our focus on eTrading is as important as ever.  It’s our job to make our services as easy for you and your clients to access as possible and we take this very seriously.  From continually building on our Acturis offering to introducing more and more new initiatives, we’ve got it covered.

Finally, as we continue to focus on our future, we’re looking for even more people to join our team.  It’s not just a numbers game for us, our approach to recruitment means we only ever employ people with the same attitude, aptitude and appetite for what we do.  It means our team will always consist of the very best people, something else we are very proud of.  By the end of the year, we will have welcomed 60 new people across the Group in 2020 alone.  This speaks for itself and really is the result of lots of hard work from lots of people.

To all of our customers, brokers and partners, thank you once again for your ongoing loyalty and support.  We will continue doing everything we can to make sure you and your people all get home safely every day, you have my word.

Our training is undoubtedly industry leading and the improvements we’ve made over recent years have had a significant impact on both our people and our business.  We were excited about sharing everything we’re doing on this front from the very start of the award application process.  With so much positive information surrounding our training and the development of our people, we knew that we had a great story to tell and couldn’t wait to share it.

The hard work of everyone involved in helping us present our evidence and, more importantly, the ongoing efforts of those who help deliver our brilliant training programme, has paid off and we’re delighted to have been acknowledged in this way.

The official congratulatory letter, issued by City and Guilds on behalf of Buckingham Palace, states: ‘You have further demonstrated that investing in your people through training and skills development has delivered real and tangible impact and benefits, and it is appropriate this will now be recognised through your Award. The commitment of your organisation to the development of your employees, especially during these acutely difficult times and as we aspire to recovery post Covid-19, demonstrates that you will be well prepared to play your part in the nation’s economic recovery.’

‘We couldn’t be happier that our commitment to our people has been recognised.  They are at the heart of our success as a business and we will continue to invest in them and their future with the British Engineering Services Group,’ said Hannah Mather Group HR Director.

Stewart Kay, Group CEO said, ‘I keep saying it, but I could not be prouder of our people and our business.  This award is just another example of how we’re leading the way in our industry.  Our training programme is integral to the success of the British Engineering Services Group and this is just another proof point that we’re doing it right.  With our new training centre opening later this year, the timing of this award is perfect!  Thank you to everyone involved in helping us achieve this and, more importantly, for helping make Britain and Ireland a safer place , we really do have the very best people.’

We look forward to sharing more information about our new training facility as we get closer to its official opening later this year.

I could not be more impressed with our people.  I am running out of phrases to say well done and thank you, I am so proud of each and every one of them.  We have received many compliments and much praise from our customers and brokers about the way we have handled ourselves and the consistency of our approach.  It has been a fantastic team effort with many having quietly gone above and beyond each day.  This has to be the proudest moment in our 160 year history. We have carried on supporting UK and Irish businesses throughout this crisis and have never shirked our responsibilities.

It is crucial that we recognise how important our part is in keeping things moving and keeping people safe.  For example, the work we have carried out at the Nightingale and other NHS hospitals has really brought to life how important our services are in helping our care providers carry on caring. We have worked with many businesses across many different sectors across the UK and Ireland to keep the national infrastructures operating. We are proud to have played our part.

Over the last few weeks, there have been several statements from the Health and Safety Executive regarding the importance of our industry.  This particular statement really reinforced the significance of our work: “The work of Engineer Surveyors is extremely valuable and necessary to maintaining safety critical plant and equipment, failure of which can create dangerous situations, risking physical harm to workers and the public. Much of this plant and equipment is vital to the national infrastructure, the NHS and to protect vulnerable groups as effectively as possible during the coronavirus crisis”. We continue to monitor Government and HSE guidelines and appreciate the support that we have received from the HSE and SaFed. The clarity and encouragement provided has been greatly appreciated.

To date we have had 6 people out of over 600 self-isolating for a variety of reasons but no one has tested positive for Covid-19 or been taken seriously ill.  I have continually reinforced the message to our people that no one should carry out work they are not comfortable doing. We will always follow specific site rules and guidance laid down by our customers. Our people are the best judges of their personal safety and if they feel they are being put at risk, they have our full support to walk away.  This is always the case and not just during these challenging times.

Ways of working will inevitably change with more people working from home more often. The past few weeks has shown that it is possible for people to work from home effectively and there are upsides to this including quality of life, improved healthy habits and less commuting. There will always be a need for us to meet and keep our social connections but we will have to learn to adapt and change our way of doing things. Over the coming weeks and months we will reassess how British and Irish Engineering work in the future to make sure we all get the benefits of both pre and post Covid practices.

I am delighted to announce that we have now started work on building our new training centre which is a big investment for us. It will allow us to cross train existing Engineer Surveyors and train our new Engineer Surveyors much more quickly, reduce training in the field and ultimately create new capacity for our growth as a business. The training centre means we can train safely and, if needed, keep social distancing in place.  This is very exciting for us as a business as we continue to invest in an even bigger and better future.

The Training Centre will be named after Paul Forrester, who we sadly lost last year.  He was both our Technical Specialist for Machinery and a great friend to many.  I am sure he is very proud of us all, particularly at the moment.

We are currently hiring more Engineer Surveyors than ever before. The demand for our services is ever growing and we won’t allow capacity to get in the way of servicing customers who need us.  In the first instance, we will be looking to add 60 new Engineer Surveyors to our team, with our next new group of Engineer Surveyors starting in June. It is great as a business to be hiring more people in these difficult times and also investing in our current staff.

How we have gone about our business has been exemplary and I am sure that there are lots of people who admire our quiet confidence and determination to do the right thing. I am pleased that we are able to continue with our plans and ambitions for the business and not just get by. We are doing all the things that we would have done without Coronavirus and probably more and that’s because of the fantastic people in British and Irish Engineering Services.

Finally, once again,  I would like to thank our people for being so brilliant and our customers and brokers for being so supportive as we navigate together through these difficult times.

Stewart Kay
Group CEO