5 minute read
Interview with Chris Randall
INTERVIEW CHRIS RANDALL
Winner of the 2011 Learner of the Year.
For more information, visit www.chrismrandallltd.co.uk
LEARNER
OF THE YEAR 2011
We’ve had a chat with Chris Randall - winner of the 2011 Learner of the Year – to see what’s changed for him in the past ten years. Chris told us, “I set up my own business four years ago and have never looked back. The company has grown quickly - we now employ five electricians and apprentices. We carry out all kinds of work, from an extra socket for someone up to large commercial and agricultural jobs."
Chris Randall: I didn’t really enjoy school, and I don’t think the teachers enjoyed me being there either really so I was destined for a trade of some sort! I was helping my dad wire a new cattle shed one weekend and I was amazed by the fuse box and how it worked. It was from then on I wanted to be an electrician.
SPARKS: What advice would you give someone just starting out? CR: Write things down! I worked as an electrician in New Zealand for nearly a year and had to write three things I learnt in a diary every day. For the first few days it seemed pointless, but after about two weeks I started to refer back to it. Even to this day it’s in the van! SPARKS: What tool could you not do without?
CR: I always have a Stanley knife, tape measure and tape in my pocket. One of the main tools I use all day every day is a Sharpie marker pen - as odd as it sounds it makes everyone’s life so much easier. When 1st fixing or even changing a light switch, I write on every cable, whether it’s a switch wire, feed in, feed out or two-way. The other tool I’m lost without is a paint tin handle. I first used it in New Zealand as a hook as we didn’t have a set of cable rods. Since then it’s been used pretty much every day! SPARKS: What changed when you won the SPARKS Learner of the Year award in 2011?
CR: My confidence was a big thing that changed for me. I was lucky enough to be put in my own van and running my own small jobs during my 2nd year in college. Although I knew what I was doing I always questioned myself. After winning the Learner of the Year competition I had the extra boost I needed.
SPARKS: How does social media affect your business? What do you use it for? CR: I rarely use social media for business or personal things. We get quite a lot of messages from people asking for quotes and work to be done through social media channels though - it is something I need to improve on as I think this is a huge source of work if done correctly. SPARKS: What do you wish you knew more about?
CR: PLC controls. I have come across them a few times and managed to muddle my way through, but I’ve booked myself on a PLC course so I’ll have a better understanding soon! SPARKS: What’s your favourite / least favourite thing about your job? CR: I think one of my favourite parts of the job is the satisfaction of completing a complex or long job - the relief that all the hard work and long hours were worth it. My least favourite part I think would be when you’re in a small, dusty, hot and insulated attic, crawling around on your stomach, where the customer has no idea what you’re going through just to add an extra socket! SPARKS: Do you have a career plan? CR: I want to continue to learn, go on courses like PLC controls, CAD design, fire alarm installation and commissioning. My main drive is to keep growing our business. SPARKS: What’s the best thing about your job? CR: I thrive on the stress and pressure of jobs! I enjoy engaging with customers, especially when they give you the chance to come up with a unique lighting design or just say ‘do whatever you want, we trust you’! SPARKS: Biggest influence on you and why? CR: The first electrician I was with while doing my apprenticeship was and still is someone I look up to, even to this day. If I’m unsure of a cable run or something similar I’ll ask myself, ‘how would Martyn get around this’. He was a great teacher with high standards. Everything had to be perfect, even down to how you dress the cables in the back of a socket. He would also randomly check bits I’d done so I couldn’t get away with anything!
Chris recently installed a solarpowered WiFi camera at this famous Welsh wall.
> WHAT I’VE LEARNED: Not every job goes to plan, doesn’t matter how long you’ve being doing it, or how good you are. Some jobs just don’t go to plan! Don’t let this get you down, use it to make sure you learn something from it!
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