5 minute read
MANAGE YOUR LIFE
WHEN WE TOOK o er cti e we found out that it was virtually unheard of to have three women solely owning and running a limited company; surprising and somewhat disappointing, so I was really pleased to meet Stephanie Hall-Stead who is a director of Perkins Fit Out Solutions which she runs with close friend Hunnii Woodward. Two women as sole directors of a limited company, hurrah! s ho e o ners at so e point e ill probably need a builder of some description. We might want to extend our house, put in a new kitchen or even build a house from scratch t’s usually fairly easy to nd so eone to do the si ple obs nding the right reliable person slightly ore di cult maybe, and anyone who has undertaken a big project knows how frustrating it can be to get tradespeople and materials on site to keep a ob going nd of course it’s e actly the same for businesses, albeit on a larger scale; so this is where Perkins Fit Out Solutions is needed.
If you own a large company, a chain of shops storage facilities or large o ces it is inevitable that at some point you are going to need some sort of construction work doing. This could range from the small, but vital problems such as changing strip light bulbs in out of reach spots and sorting out water leaks, to the major work such as refurbishing and recon guring an o ce building or shop nd ti e is oney and businesses can’t just stop trading whilst work is being done. This is where Stephanie and Hunnii come in. Perkins Fit Out is a construction and services company that deals with commercial, leisure and educational premises ranging from the large hotel super arket or o ce refurbish ent down to reactive maintenance projects, ie sorting out day to day problems which can
occur such as broken window delivered on time in the catches, that sort of thing. Stephanie has a building M construction industry has been quite problematic since surveying degree from Covid. Nottingham Trent and is a The reactive maintenance chartered surveyor who spent arm of the business is a vital many years working in the part of the company. Their industry mainly managing projects. response needs to be quick and She worked for the National Trust reactive and they can usually guarantee managing their portfolio in the East to get someone out to a premises for urgent Midlands and specialises in heritage and works within 24-48 hours. pre 1900 buildings. ‘During my career I was The project management side of the working client side as the project manager business can be anything from one week to and in working with contractors often felt six months and usually involves the job that I could do a better job of delivering the fro start to nish s pro ects and reacti e project myself. So in 2019, along with maintenance work are run alongside each Hunnii, we decided to do just that and set other, managing the team of 14 can be tough up our o n t out business trying to work out where each team member ‘Our job is really all about logistics. needs to be s their pro ects are all o er the Hunnii specialises in the new build and country the team live all over the place as reactive maintenance side of the business well. whilst I deal with existing buildings and the Stephanie and Hunnii both live locally heritage work. We manage a skilled team of with Hunnii having grown up in Stamford. 14 and can pull in extra labour when and With their skill sets they are able to take on where it is needed. To project manage any construction jobs anywhere in the UK. successfully you need to be incredibly tephanie has recently anaged a re organised and know exactly how long cleaning ob nd as she has e perience certain jobs will take. I am often out on site working on old buildings with traditional overseeing projects or will be back in the materials she is able to source stonemasons o ce planning obs fro start to nish ’ and knows all about Collyweston slate and nd planning is hat it is all about f lime repointing. you have ever had any building work done But project managing a job is not just you know it is a logistical nightmare to get about getting builders and supplies on site the bricklayer to turn up when you need at the correct time. The project manager is them, and the bricks delivered on time. responsible for the health and safety of all Then you need the plumber on site to do a on the actual site and needs to be able to job and if the plasterer doesn’t turn up when plan with the owner of the business how to you need them you can’t carry on with the keep the staff on site as ell as their o n work. If one of these tradespeople doesn’t staff safe nd to keep the business up and turn up you know the job will grind to a running as well. ‘Working in a live halt. Stephanie and Hunnii have all this to environment such as a warehouse or school organise, but on a much larger scale! They presents other problems. We need to keep must be incredibly well organised and staff and anage ent infor ed so co pletely un appable as getting supplies e erything o s ell lot of our ob is planning and communication.’ Problem solving at its best and this really is Stephanie’s forté. She enjoys planning and recon guring a site and is also really interested in renewables and helping companies improve their environmental footprint. s ell as being a chartered and building surveyor Stephanie knows how to plaster, tile and undertake basic joinery. ‘I know ‘Stephanie and Hunnii both live when to ask for advice from a much more skilled tradesman too. It’s all about being locally with Hunnii having grown up professional and getting the job done and that can mean asking a very skilled joiner in Stamford. With their skill sets they the best way to do something.’ are able to take on any construction www.perkinsfitout.co.uk
