Industry Africa November - Airvent

A I RV ENT

A breath of

fresh air

Born out of an entrepreneurial dream, Airvent has been servicing the people of South Africa with efficient air conditioning and exemplar customer service for almost 20 years and founder Mark Rogers explained what sets his team apart from competitors.

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Airvent

A breath of fresh air Victoria South

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Born out of an entrepreneurial dream, Airvent has been servicing the people of South Africa with efficient air conditioning and exemplar customer service for almost 20 years and founder Mark Rogers explained what sets his team apart from competitors.

Airvent

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Started

back in 2001, it will come as no surprise that the core activities of Airvent have changed and evolved to meet a growing market and ever-changing financial climate, but Mark Rogers and his team have risen to industry challenges beautifully, resulting in a dynamic and adaptive company.

The first incarnation of Airvent was a simple operation that serviced predominantly domestic air conditioning systems in Cape Town, but things are a little different now, as Mark explained, “Airvent has grown into a formidable HVAC Contracting company that is now involved in large commercial and industrial installations throughout South Africa. This being said, we are still very much involved in the domestic market as well and have not forgotten our roots and where we have come from. We cover the entire market from servicing a small split unit to installing chilled water systems for large buildings.�

Thinking big

Given that it was entrepreneurial determination that led Mark to opening Airvent in the first place, it makes perfect sense that as the company grew, opportunities for extensive growth and diversification were not just identified, but also leapt upon in truly tenacious fashion. Extra branches were the first step, with the Helderberg Basin, Johannesburg and the Southern Cape all feeling the benefit of a physical location, but Mark then went a step further, leading to a level of vertical integration that is quite simply, ingenious, “We decided to open a sheet metal business, namely Cape Sheet Metal Works, which manufactures ducting for the industry. This business too has evolved over the years to become one of the leading ducting suppliers to the HVAC industry in Cape Town.

Our philosophy with Cape Sheet Metal Works was that we wanted to produce products that were exceptional, well priced and are delivered on time, every time. For this to happen we realised that we would need to invest in the correct machinery from the start. Our production lines are housed in a 2300 square metre facility based in Brackenfell, Cape Town and include high quality machinery that have the capacity to produce 150 tons of www.industryafrica.net | 3

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ducting per month.”

These developments would be more than enough to keep even the most energetic of business owners occupied, but Mark has an energy reserve that is staggering, which is why an energy business, specialised chilled water operation and electrical contracting operation were all added to the roster of sister companies, but that’s not all. As the industry develops and changes, so too must the skill sets of the team at Airvent, which has lead to the opening of the HVAC Training Academy, “The Academy is in the final stages of becoming MERSETA Accredited and has a fully qualified assessor and trainers employed fulltime, offering our staff training on an on-going basis. Our vision with the Academy was to create a platform within our business to create careers for our employees within our group through up-skilling our staff, rather than just offering our staff jobs.

We are trying to break the current market trend of people job-hopping to better themselves and earn more by creating these career paths for our employees.”

The results really speak for themselves, as staff turnover is

Jason McCormick, Managing Director of McCormick Property Developers

4 | www.industryafrica.net

Airvent

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minimal and the levels of expertise have grown exponentially. With everybody benefitting, it seems as though Airvent and its subsidiaries will be able to weather any and all storms that the industry might experience.

Moving into the future

Mark recognises certain patterns and indicators that give rise to a belief that the industry is about to undergo significant change and development, particularly over the next five years. He predicts that larger companies will hone in on the growth potential of the market, making new opportunities present themselves, while also requiring some serious thought as to the size of Airvent.

Having looked into expansion into Africa, Mark acknowledges that this might be worth more consideration in the coming years, but he does already have growth targets in mind, “Our current market share in the HVAC space, in the Cape Town region, is about 8% and we would like to develop this part of our business to achieve at least 12% over the next three years, ramping this up to 20% over the next eight years.�

He went on to reveal that, “With regards to our energy sector businesses, we feel that www.industryafrica.net | 5

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there is massive growth opportunity within South Africa, which we are looking to capitalise on. Our strategy in this field is to do things a little unconventionally, as we like to be different. Here we will be looking at a strategy that allows for selling the byproduct of our heat pumps and solar systems rather than the equipment itself. This is currently in the development stage and we aim to roll this out within the next six months.”

Of course, to set these plans in motion will take a lot of internal infrastructure and planning, but a lot of the hard work has already begun.

Having sought to digitise the business already and with a slew of academytrained professionals in place, 6 | www.industryafrica.net

Airvent is in an exceptionally strong position to make serious inroads in terms of growth, before some of the larger operations cotton on to what a lucrative market they might be missing out on. By the time larger operations start to move in, Mark and his team will be in a position to offer serious competition, while still maintaining that grass roots ethos that has remained so important from day one.

Closing the interview, Mark wanted to highlight just how critical the people he works with are, “Our business is all about our people, it sounds cliché but it is really just that. Without the dedication of our staff and the commitment they

have shown over the years, we would never be in the position we are in today. It has truly been a team effort and I am proud to be part of this unique team. As a service orientated business, our distinguishing factor is the service we provide to our clients and without the correct people leading the business, the energetic sales teams, the dedicated warehouse staff, the efficient admin staff and our expert technical teams in our manufacturing plants and on the road we would be just be average. We don’t like average much.”

You can’t deny that the vision, determination and staff appreciation that Airvent is built on is a real breath of fresh air.

Airvent

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B EKA S CHRÉDER