A close-knit family electrical firm is celebrating a unique milestone in 2024 as it chalks up its 50th year as a member of leading trade association, SELECT. We find out more.
Over the last half century, AC Electrics has grown from humble beginnings in Cleland, Lanarkshire, to become a pioneer of green technology that’s also been hand-picked to work for the government in sub-zero temperatures in challenging foreign climes.
Founder Benny Smith (pictured below) says a key part of the firm’s progress has been the support it has received from SELECT, which it joined on February 12th 1974 when it was still the Electrical Contractors’ Association of Scotland.
Speaking originally in SELECT’s Cabletalk magazine, Benny revealed that he joined the association when he started out on his own after leaving a safe job, at the same time as buying his first house and helping wife Rosemary to raise two small children.
He said: “I felt I wasn’t getting anywhere so I spoke to a house builder who convinced me that I should start up on my own. To give me a helping hand, he offered me a contract to carry out the electrical works on a new housing development he had under way.”
This led to more contracts, particularly with local authorities and public bodies in Central Scotland, which continue to this day.
Benny said: “For example, in 1979 we were called in to wire a 30 amp socket in the telephone room of NHS Lanarkshire’s Hartwood Hospital and we’re still working for the trust 45 years later.”
Benny soon became a regular at his local Lanarkshire branch of SELECT, where he enjoyed meeting up with fellow electricians and keeping abreast of developments in the industry.
He said: “Being a member of SELECT helped keep us on top of new and ever-expanding developments in the industry, as it’s very hands-on.
“It also helped us to win the bigger and more lucrative contracts as local authorities demanded evidence that you were a bona fide contractor and SELECT membership gave them the reassurance that we were a professional outfit with high standards.”
After three decades in the hot seat, growing changes in technology influenced Benny’s decision to hand over the reins to sons Paul and Kevin in 2004.
He explained: “We could never really transition from faxes to emails, and that’s what our customers wanted, so we thought it was time for the next generation to take over.” Under the brothers’ stewardship, AC Electrics was one of the first companies in Scotland to become involved with EV charging through its relationship with BMW-Schneider Electric in 2013.
A very special assignment
In 2009 the company was also called upon by UK government to undertake a special foreign assignment to upgrade the visa section in the British Embassy in Moscow.
After installing retractable car bollards at Holyrood, Edinburgh, Paul and his crew were recommended for the project, which saw the installation of weather shelters, thermal heaters, body scanning and X-ray equipment to the entrance compound.
Paul said: “It was tough work because it was the dead of winter and the temperatures would be around minus 15-20 ̊C. Working with galvanised conduit in those conditions is NOT recommended.
“I really enjoyed my time in Moscow, as it’s such a beautiful city. We stayed in the Hotel Ukraine and my room looked out across the Moskva River to the White House government building opposite. I could see all of central Moscow, including Red Square and St Basil’s Cathedral. It was a truly awesome sight.”
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