Glasgow electrical specialists win work in Brazil and Mexico

What is your business called?

Electrical Specialist Solutions Ltd (ESS).

Where is it based?

Our recently opened office is in West George Street, Glasgow, but we are more often to be found assisting our customers in Mexico, the USA or mainland Europe. We are currently gearing-up to undertake a new three-month contract, where we will oversee our team of engineers, in Brazil.

Scotland is our home and we have no desire to live anywhere else. Our families and friends are here. We have spent the last 20 years travelling and enjoy everything that Scotland has to offer.

What services does it offer?

We are electrical and mechanical controls specialists to the power generation and semiconductor industries. Our technical specialism lies in gas turbine control systems, generator excitation, power generation and distribution protections and substation installations, as well as AC and DC electrical drives.

Our core team of engineers helps organisations across the world overcome a range of general power enhancement requirements including skills gaps, manning difficulties and issues arising from transitioning from old to new technologies.

To whom does it sell?

A clutch of global, often Florida and Texas-based, energy businesses.

What is its turnover?

We recorded sales of $300,000 in our first year, and with the new contracts we have won in Mexico and Brazil, expect to increase that significantly in the current year.

How many employees?

We are both company directors and employees and we are just about to hire an office manager to secure our Glasgow base. We work with a core of around twenty sub-contractors from all over the world, though the majority are British. We know all of them well and have worked alongside them over the years.

We look for the best possible person for the job and their location and nationality has no impact on our decision to hire them. There are lots of good engineers based in Scotland and so we do use Scottish contactors.

When was it formed?

August 2020.

Why did you take the plunge?

We worked for a global business and were made redundant amid the downturn arising from the covid-19 pandemic. We could not travel abroad to undertake work so it was inevitable our employer had to let us go. Happily, we are now working again for our former employer but this time as accredited suppliers.

What were you doing before you took the plunge?

We have had long experience as electrical engineers. I have completed the electrical commissioning and qualification of high voltage, power generation and of oil and gas and semiconductor equipment in Asia, USA, Europe, Russia and Australia. Alan has over 18 years experience of maintenance, repair, and commissioning on a wide range of instrumentation and electrical equipment gained in the marine, power generation, and oil and gas sectors.

How did you raise the start-up funding?

We had both been fortunate enough to work overseas for a number of years for major operators in our sector and took the opportunity to save a regular portion of our earnings. These plus our redundancy payments went towards the founding investment of our business. So far we have had no need for external funding support.

What was your biggest break?

Securing commissioning work in Brazil and Mexico from our former employer was a big endorsement of our abilities.

What was your worst moment?

Before we set up ES Solutions it was probably being made redundant from a job we both enjoyed. Redundancy was a no-brainer in the circumstances, but one which, in turn, gave us the impetus to start our own business. Since then, there have been, thankfully, no worst moments.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

Freedom to pursue our own ideas on how we can do things better and faster; sometimes by conceiving, then working on new tools and devices. We also enjoy talking to our sub-contractor colleagues, all of whom have worked on innovative projects across the world. There is always something new to learn.

What are your ambitions for the business?

To continue winning bigger and bigger contract and to open an office in the USA.

Longer term, we would like to make the business a sufficiently attractive option for our sons, Kai, aged 14 and Thomas, aged 8, to join us in the business and to drive it forward.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?

Re-joining the EU would be a good start but we are not holding our breath.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

When you undertake contracts abroad you have to be able to hit the ground running so a keen awareness of local conditions, the result of years of experience, is a major asset.

We pack our bags and our toolkits fully conscious of what we might be faced with, but we also know we are too often likely to come across the unexpected as well.

How do you relax?

We enjoy spending time with our families. We are abroad a lot of the time so being with them is precious.

I travel regularly with my daughter who competes nationally in figure skating and I also walk my two whippets to keep me fit. Alan relaxes by playing his guitar – he’s pretty good.