Interview

TEAMWORK BRINGS EVERYTHING TOGETHER

Carly Wills talks to Danny Edmonds, Director of Prowired, about life at the company and its plans for the future.

CW: Tell us about yourself and how you got into the sector

DE: I used to work for (now business partner) Nathan, and over time we built a very good relationship which was primarily based on having full trust in one another. 10 years ago, we had a discussion about whether we could potentially set up a business together. It didn’t take long for us to agree that it was the right thing to do and, before you knew it we’d started our own company.

We both had a vision that Prowired should be heavily brand focussed and recognisable, with an onus on getting the right clients and servicing them correctly. As with most business owners, we had to make some big sacrifices early on to enable the company to get where it is today, but it’s been the best decision we’ve made.

Prowired has become the company we dreamed of and that’s also down to the support of our staff, wholesalers, subcontractors and clients. It wouldn’t have happened without everyone’s involvement.

CW: How do you make your business stand out from the crowd?

DE: Branding is something we are into big time! With our appetite for continuous improvement and growth, we celebrated our 10th anniversary in April this year and were keen to do things that clearly defined this milestone, including a major makeover of the look and feel of the business to reflect who we are in 2022!

We also want to be different in the ways that we look after the staff on-site and in our office, and to build a culture that teamwork brings everything together. To us this is the most important part of the business.

Prowired aims to cover a broad range of work throughout the industry

Our Prowired culture means we work hard on supporting and growing, which has allowed us to create a strong bond with the team, clients, wholesalers and manufacturers across the industry.

CW: For those who may not know, can you give us an overview of the work that Prowired does?

DE: Here at Prowired, we aim to cover a broad range of work throughout the industry, from domestic small works and projects through to large scale industrial works, including maintenance. This isn’t always easy, but we have really managed to ensure quality and competency throughout our teams by taking every individual who works for us, along with their ability and skillset, into consideration when assigning them work and are constantly updating our employee skills matrix once training or tasks are completed.

CW: Aside from COVID-19, what have been the biggest changes across the industry in recent times? What will be the biggest changes in the future?

DE: Aside from COVID-19, we have been faced with material shortages due to the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis affecting the price of diesel, materials and even labour. This has caused instability across the industry as whole. We are continuing to adapt and overcome by making provisions to ensure our company and employees remain successful and continue to thrive.

We also believe in a strong push for better mental health in the industry and have trained a few of our staff and equipped them with the skills to handle issues with employee wellbeing. We expect to see this change across the industry where employee wellbeing has been disregarded for years.

We also expect to see electric vehicles being more widely used and are thrilled to be a small part of the EV charge point rollout and are always on the lookout for sustainable and economical vehicles that will suit our business needs.

CW: What do you think are the most exciting products or technologies coming to the market?

DE: We are constantly trialling new products centred around our client’s safety and reliability and have many notable mentions, such as Linian fire rated cable clips and Meridian Solar, who are leading the way in renewables. We think it’s great to see companies innovating on existing products and innovating to make installers lives easier with the safety of consumers in mind.

We believe it is vital to be investing in the best technology, as the importance of tech allows the business and all operations within to always run smoothly and efficiently. We’ve integrated Arkflux, SimPRO and our Prowired app to form a solid structure, from marketing and forming leads, through to job completion, aftercare and completing compliance.

The industry continues to surprise us with innovation and with the 18th Edition Amendment 2 wiring regulations having just landed we are keen to be able to put AFDD’s into practice and are finally seeing a reduction in cost resulting in an ability to win work and utilise these fantastic devices.

CW: What does the future hold for Prowired?

DE: With our strong and loyal client base we aim to maintain our growth and become an industry leader in the electrical contracting sector, whilst still providing outstanding service and value to our clients and expanding workforce.

We believe it’s important to give back to the community and bridge the gap between the education system and the electrical industry – with our Prowired Academy we aim to inspire the next generation of electricians and to create the opportunity of valuable hands-on experience with the support of our industry’s leading manufacturers.