For over 25 years, Waller Building & Glazing has been providing general construction & glazing services in Kent and the surrounding counties. The small, family run business has grown significantly in that time, now employing 16 people and working with an annual turnover of over £3m. Under the leadership of Managing Director Steve Waller, the business has shifted its focus to the education sector.
Steve explained why schools have become the main customers for his business’ services: “Eight years ago, we lost a key client of ours who was responsible for approximately 80% of our turnover. We were a lot smaller then but it had a major impact to us. Rather than panic we used it as an opportunity to look at what we were doing really well, set ourselves targets and objectives and also set up a glazing division. Having our own glazing division gave us a very strong supply USP - we can provide a glazing service as a construction firm. We provide qualified Contracts Managers to run all glazing projects and are now able to offer a more holistic approach to projects that include glazing. This has been extremely popular with schools and we have grown to be a major player in the education sector, working with over 150 schools! As well as schools, our team are extremely experienced in the commercial and Housing Association sectors.”
Being a family-run business, Waller Building & Glazing places a huge emphasis on treating their employees well and providing a supportive environment for them to train and develop. Nowhere is this more apparent than in their apprenticeship programme. Over 50% of the business’ staff joined the company through the apprenticeship programme, including their Operations Director and their Senior Contracts Manager, the latter of whom started as an apprentice 15 years ago and is now a fully qualified Chartered Surveyor. Steve commented: “I passionately believe in training and developing through apprenticeship programmes as I feel that we can mould individuals to work in a way that is reflected in our Vision, Values and Beliefs more easily than if we recruited from outside our organisation. By having a team fully committed to our values of honesty, integrity and trust I feel that the service we offer our clients sets us apart from that of our competition.”
Finally, Steve discussed why he felt that his business could be the 2019 Swale Business of the Year: “We have been trading for 25 years this year and receiving an award would be an amazing accolade for us! We were a finalist in 2014 and although we felt we were heading in the right direction we now realise that we had so much more to do. Since then we have made significant improvements throughout the Company which, we feel, sets us apart from our competitors, including focusing on our Corporate Social Responsibility by working towards ISO 14001 Environmental Certification. We build relationships through our ethos of working on trust, and as such we are trying to change the preconceptions around the construction industry. Our aim is to be the first construction firm to win the Swale Business Awards!”
Pheasant Farm, Sheppey Way
Bobbing
Sittingbourne
ME9 8QX
07973 216 444
www.wallerservices.com