In The Beginning
Two electronics engineers (Ian Frost & Dave Fortey) who had been locally employed in the calibration field established Electroservices (Instruments) Ltd in 1972. The Company had a small workshop in central Newport (South Wales) and from there serviced the calibration needs of local companies.
Originally the Company concentrated on calibrating general-purpose instruments such as multimeters and oscilloscopes. With the growth of the Company, Electroservices (Instruments) Ltd reinvested with increased staff numbers and expansion of capabilities to improve the in-house services supplied.
The growth of the Company meant that relocation to larger premises was required and in 1978 Fairfax Road, Newport became the new head office. Following the arrival of Roger Pearce as a new Director in 1984 Electroservices (Instruments) Ltd established its own standards laboratory directly traceable to National Standards, this was duly accredited by UKAS (Laboratory No.0126). BSI accreditation was gained in 1990 for the quality management system covering the repair and calibration of electronic & electrical test equipment.
Electroservices (Midlands) Ltd was established in Kingswinford, West Midlands in the early 1980s, to provide a limited calibration service for the Midlands based customers of Electroservices (Instruments) Ltd.
During the 1980s, the Midlands operation steadily increased in size and capability. BSI accreditation was gained in 1988 for the quality management system, initially covering the repair and calibration of electronic & electrical test equipment.
Having outgrown the Kingswinford site and with the lease nearing an end the Company decided to relocate and following a short-term rental within the Wrekin Hospital grounds a purpose built facility was completed in Telford, Shropshire in 1990. Stafford Park became the new head office for Electroservices (Midlands) Ltd.
In August 1997 a group co-operative of employees purchased the Midlands branch. Electroservices (Midlands) Ltd traded as a separate company, although the special relationship between the two Companies was maintained. The new Board of Directors consisted of Bob Hart, Simon Plant, Anne West and Paddy Malone.
In May 1999, the founders of Electroservices (Instruments) Ltd were enticed by retirement and decided to sell up. The Company was purchased by the owners of Electroservices (Midlands) Ltd, so unifying the two Companies once more and increasing overall in-house capabilities.
The amalgamation of both Companies ensured further re-investment and as a result Electroservices (Instruments) Ltd relocated to a purpose built fully air-conditioned facility in Llantarnam Park, Cwmbran in October 2001.
Over the following five years strong growth occurred within the Telford branch, primarily due to winning major contracts for repair and calibration of general purpose test equipment with the MOD. A major two-storey extension was added to the Telford site in 2002 trebling the open-plan workshop areas with most offices relocated upstairs. In-house expansion of capabilities continued to increase, reducing the requirement for sub-contracted services. Growth within the Cwmbran Branch was far steadier due mainly to the decline of manufacturing industry within the local area.
In mid-2004 the Group Managing Director Bob Hart decided that the call from his native Australia was too strong and set about organising his retirement based around the sale of his shares within the Company. New appointments were made to the Board of Directors, Jane Rushton, Robin Jones & Roger Bradley joined the group of three previous remaining Directors. In July 2005 a whitewash of the Company was undertaken allowing both Bob Hart and Anne West (the Finance Director) to retire. A new co-operative, Electroservices Enterprises Ltd, consisting of 29 shareholders who at the time were all employed by the company was formed. Simon Plant, having been a Director since 1997 stepped up to the role of Group Managing Director with Jane Rushton as Finance Director, Robin Jones as Technical Director and Roger Bradley as Managing Director of Electroservices (Instruments) Ltd.
With an ever-decreasing calibration market within the UK diversification was the key to further expansion. Year by year in-house capabilities for both calibration and repair were increased and differing markets such as mechanical metrology, non-ionising radiation and wind-speed added to the already impressive range of test equipment serviced. In 2008 an annex to the Stafford Park site was added where three large screened rooms, two mechanical laboratories and a wind tunnel were sited. Further diversification occurred when MOD contracts were secured for the supply of general-purpose test equipment and post design services.
The worldwide commercial crisis of 2009 seemed to have no affect on the Telford based branch whose list of Blue Chip Customers continued to increase but the Cwmbran branch continued to suffer with a 60% decline of Welsh based Customers seen over a five-year period.
In early 2010 the Board of Directors decided that a Company re-structure was required. With improvement of the UK road networks the decision to amalgamate the group within one much larger facility was taken. As a search for a suitable site was undertaken the phased closure of the Cwmbran site was initiated in March 2010 and completed in late August 2010 with Electroservices (Midlands) Ltd taking over the servicing of the Electroservices (Instruments) Ltd Customer base and increasing staffing levels recruited from both within the Cwmbran facility and locally.
With Jane Rushton indicating her impending retirement, four new Directors were added to the Board to ensure the Company ethos and approach was maintained for the future. Andrea Pugh, Duncan Richards, Katherine Thompson and Thair Khayat were all time served Managers promoted to Director level in October 2010.