“It will be fantastic to have a well trained team. At the moment we use sub-contractors but we are already looking for our first fencer. Our own team with all the right qualifications would improve the status of Fensec because we would be regarded as more reliable. That would give us a firm foundation immediately and for the future. Ideally, two years from now, we would have a team of three or four full time fencers.
We would like our first full timer to have the NVQ2 in fencing already, but we will be happy to put someone through that if they are the right candidate.
Fensec was launched in October 2006 and started work on its first job in April 2007. Robert is a civil engineer and has nearly 30 years’ experience in the fencing industry - he was director of one company for 23 years and later worked as a consultant with customers including Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street. We specialise in security fencing and recently we have been doing more retail projects.
We lived originally in Devon, moved to the Cotswolds with Robert’s job, then spent three years in France, where he was a project manager renovating properties.
My background is in quality control in laboratories. My last job in the UK was in a hospital pathology laboratory in Chichester. Previously I worked at a large bitumen factory where I dealt with health and safety data and risk areas. In France I had a complete change and worked for a firm of accountants, setting up a sales office to bring in new business.
Fensec was set up to fill a void in the marketplace. Our competitor’s base was at Taunton - we are seven miles away and 15 miles from Exeter - and they were servicing the security and banking areas. We do industrial and security fencing, so when we take someone on, they might not have specialist knowledge but Robert will be able to train them for that side of the work.
Training is going to be important because if you have your own staff they are your ambassadors. It will also reduce our insurance risks and we would have more control of what was happening on site. That would also cut the paperwork and give us more reliability instead of working with sub-contractors.
We are developing the business carefully, because we have funded it entirely ourselves and because of the economic climate. We want to offer our clients a quality service. Our first fencer will have a company vehicle and we will provide them with tools. We hope they will already have their NVQ2 in Fencing and their Construction Skills Certification Scheme card. We want the best qualified person we can get for the money we are offering, then we can build a team.
For the last 18 months I have been learning by necessity about the construction industry and its requirements. But if I had the opportunity I would like to learn how to implement the ISO9001 standard for the construction industry. I set up similar quality controls systems, with cross and back checking, in a hospital and the factory where I used to work. But that will be later…”
