As TrustMark continues to shine a spotlight on its top trade members, Chief Executive, Simon Ayers catches up with W A Electrical, a business that’s proving its electrical excellence.
Too many people still see electrical work as an ‘annoyance’ purchase. This often means they’ll aim to pay the lowest price, even when it means the work may be undertaken by someone who isn’t properly qualified.
A recent report carried out by TrustMark revealed the harsh and outdated public image of tradespeople in the UK, why it needs to change and how the key to success must lie in public trust and awareness of the many good firms in the market, not to mention the safeguards provided by schemes such as TrustMark.
Promoting professionalism
To raise awareness of the ‘good eggs’ within the sector, TrustMark recently nominated 10 industry ambassadors from the trade, all of whom are reliable, reputable, competent and committed to good practice in a world that generally expects the worst of them.
Wendy Ayres, Business Owner of W A Electrical Services and a TrustMark registered firm, is one such ‘ambassador’, and she believes her success is down to her firm’s commitment to customer service and quality of workmanship.
Set up over 17 years ago, the Leicester-based company has grown her passion for the electrical industry whilst working in a hospital as an electrical assistant and, following five years of committed training and long days, she qualified as an electrician. As a sole trader, Wendy naturally sees it as important to present herself professionally and develop new skills.
Commitment to improvement
To ensure she stays on top of newer developments and expands her skill-set, Wendy regularly attends training courses and events that also provide a valuable insight into proposed regulation and legislative changes in the industry. As such, she is a big believer that “all electricians should be certified and show traceability of their work”.
In its early days much of the firm’s work came through 
word-of-mouth and personal recommendations. In recent times, however, W A Electrical has also acquired work through the TrustMark website. Building a good relationship has helped the company to grow over the years, and Wendy says that going the extra mile for a customer is important to her business.
She explains: “You must always remember that you’re only as good as your last job. Never take anything for granted.” Indeed, Wendy is perceptive to her customer’s needs, particularly if they’re elderly, ensuring she works at a pace and time that suits them.
Working considerately takes high priority from the beginning to the end of the job. She’ll start things off by visiting a premises and taking photos of the work before she provides a quotation. This helps Wendy to take due care with risk assessments and quote accordingly.
When the work is completed, the quality of service continues as Wendy likes to ensure everything is immaculate when she leaves.
Trusted traders
At TrustMark we believe the real key to a strong and long-lasting relationship between you and your customers is trust. We value professional, reliable tradespeople and will endorse registered firms for their efforts to raise standards, as well as stamping out rogue traders. W A Electrical symbolises the sort of smart, motivated and hardworking businesses steadily changing the reputation and the public’s experience of an entire industry.
