Peter's Story

I started off as an apprentice working for STC in the 70’s on the latest telephone digital exchange equipment. This gave me the start of a career based around electronics, defence, communications and control systems that would lead me to work on North Sea offshore production platforms and around the World on all forms of petrochemical / Process plant installations.

Commissioning Emergency shutdown systems which varied from sole responsibility to managing large teams commissioning multiple systems to bring online first oil and gas production.

In 2000 being away from home had run its course so I returned to my telecommunication roots running Euro Fibre ring installation and data cabling projects for the MOD. Finally set up a poling yard to run a new project as a subcontractor on the BT low wire upgrade.

The common issue with every project and company that I had worked for is the lack of trained staff required to deliver projects on time, safely and with quality. Believing I had the necessary experience and solutions to address this issue I decided in 2004 to form Project Skills Solutions.

History Timeline

PSS Installations throughout the years...

2004: Project Skills Solutions Founded

PSS started with Peter working from home to develop telecoms training manuals and courses. It was found that telecoms low wire projects were so starved of qualified personnel, that this provided an opportunity to offer a specialised workforce.

Suitable premises were found in Writtle to launch and run the telecommunication projects. The plan for PSS was to offer resettlement training and get service leavers into these projects. Peter had been recruiting through the RFEA on his last project to meet the staff requirements.

Everything was going great until BT pulled the project – back to the drawing board and Project Skills Solution’s first challenge.

2006: The team expands

After months of deliberation, Peter took the big step of finding a serviced office to push the company forward (and out of the home study). Around the same time, Kat completed college and joined the company as it moved to its first office, working with Kay on training sales.

An opportunity then presented itself to carry out some consultancy works for a cabling company who wished to get their processes in line for MOD work. Peter managed to land them their target project – upgrading territorial centres,  concentrating on their data centre monitoring equipment.

Faced with a client requiring the promised cabling services without a contractor, Luke joined PSS and the company began setting up cabling teams.

2006: The New (new) Office

2006: The New (new) Office

Needing more room to expand, in the same year PSS moved from Basildon to Benfleet into space with 5 offices and plenty of room to grow. Now with two sides of the business – training and installation services – and the whole family working together, growth brought with it, entertainment, challenges and rewards.

Everyone worked hard to build the training course options and locations but the real growth was the cabling installation projects. Working on the contracts and looking for new clients made the team decide it was important to show commitment to quality. Therefore PSS engaged a consultant who brought our processes up to the requirement to gain our ISO 9001 accreditation.

2006: Training and MOD

2006: Training and MOD

Part of the requirement for telecommunication training was to gain the NRSWA qualification. PSS set up agreements with trading associations with several training centres to resell their courses, complimenting the telecoms training.

This was a time of dial-up broadband and few companies had websites. So, Peter set up a website from scratch by himself to help people find the courses they needed. Kay joined and doubled the staff count establishing the training side of the business, managing enquiries and training sales.

2007/08: Electrical Services

2007/08: Electrical Services

Our key client expanded their requirement from upgrading TA centres to installing fibre cabling on MOD bases across the UK.

This further requirement for a single source solution led us to provide electrical services, all of which had to be JSP 480 compliant. Luke, whose background was telecommunications, recruited electricians and took an electrical course himself. PSS gained NICEIC electrical contractor accreditation for their installation services.

The training services were also developing, and now running their own courses alongside reselling. We gained ILM centre status and ran leadership and management courses along with health and safety training. Then the MOD contract came to a natural end and the recession hit.

2009/11: Training

As a result of the downturn, the next two years were spent concentrating on the development of our training services. Most of the growth was in our management training services and the reselling of NRSWA training.

2012: Facilities Sector

Installations started working on a contract to provide electrical services in the facilities sector. This required additional staff and a broadening of our range of services.

This work was predominantly in London and required us to add access control and HVAC services. The project involved both installation and maintenance across a wide range of sectors including transport, banking, commercial and education.

As we ended 2012, we had outgrown our offices and were looking for premises more suitable.

2013: New Office

2013: New Office

It was a hectic start to 2013 as our new premises were an empty warehouse which we had to convert into offices. They had to be operational by the 31st January due to lease ending on our Benfleet offices.

Opting for an empty warehouse allowed us to design new offices and allowing space for workshops. This would meet the needs of our unique range of services across the two divisions. We worked around the clock to build offices, install all electrical and data cabling, HVAC and security systems. We succeeded and moved in on time with a seamless transition from one premises to the other.

2013 also saw us bring our HVAC services in house instead of using subcontractors. We increased our electrical works on commercial property requiring more staff and vehicles. Now we had full storage areas and workshop space to meet the demand.

2014: Facilities and Commercial Projects

Our electrical & mechanical services continue to grow in the facilities management sector supporting main contractors mainly in London.

2014 also sees PSS win two major electrical contracts, one for a new build workshop fit out and one for a refurbishment of a 160,000 Sq-ft warehouse of all electrical, mechanical, data communications, CCTV and access control.

2015: Growing Team

The PSS team kept growing with the addition of an electrical estimator, business development manager and a mechanical services manager. The team grew to support our electrical services and help manage a large fibre cabling project installing all the communications cabling for a 27 lift system being installed in a large London bank.

2016: Social Housing

In 2016 PSS won a contract to deliver electrical services to the main contractor for social housing reactive and planned maintenance. This work grew steadily as we developed our capability to deliver. Contract support staff were hired and an additional office was built to accommodate a support team.

2018: Growing Team

2018: Growing Team

Rapid growth with more contracts in the social housing sector required us to add 10 more electricians, vans and equipment along with additional supervision and support staff to the team.

Contracts now also required fixed wire testing services on occupied and void premises along with all associated remedial works. Kitchen and bathroom upgrades are added as part of our contracted works.

2019: Safety First

We now have a full-time HSEQ manager in the company covering the business requirements to ensure we have a safe workforce. Training, toolbox talks and site visits have commenced and our aim is to gain 45001 accreditation by year end.

2020 – 5-star electrical services award

2020 – 5-star electrical services award

Providing electrical maintenance & repair services 24/7 is challenging at the best of times but during the 2020 pandemic, it was on a new level. We maintained the ability to attend at short notice, diagnose the problem and have the required materials to effect a repair.

It was great to have our 5-star electrical services acknowledged independently.

So, we were super excited to have received a 5-star electrical services award for our performance from Plentific for our work in 2020.

2020 – Electrical Services Expansion

2020 – Electrical Services Expansion

Our contract wins continued, with us now providing electrical services to 4 main contractors and in turn, multiple housing associations properties.

These contracts required us to provide EICR testing, void property electrical works, kitchen & bathroom upgrades, day-to-day and planned works. These services are provided 24/7, so we had to increase the number of electrical engineers and expand the office support team to meet the demand.

We grew an excellent reputation in the social housing electrical maintenance and repairs field.

2021 – Going Green

2021 – Going Green

Our aim to start the transition to a more environmentally sustainable company vehicle fleet commenced in 2020. However, this was delayed due to the pandemic but recommenced in 2021.

Our initial plan to chose EV vehicles as our company cars came up for renewal (or the purchases of any new cars that are required) has resulted in 3 fully electric cars now in the fleet.

The biggest change will be to replace our fleet of diesel vans with Electric Vehicles. The first step in the transition is the installation of the EV Charger at the offices.

2022 – Fibre Cabling Services Division

2022 – Fibre Cabling Services Division

We have been providing fibre optic cabling services since 2006 but this year we have greatly expanded our fibre cabling service capability.

The Government’s manifesto commitment was to deliver nationwide gigabit-broadband by 2025. That target was revised in November 2020 to a minimum of 85% of premises by 2025. This has led to a massive demand by altnets to get subcontracting companies on board to help achieve these targets.

We have been approached by several companies to provide a range of fibre optic services. Our existing teams were involved mainly with high-level testing and fusion splicing. These new contracts have required us to provide the full range of fibre cabling services including TRR test rod and roping, Subduct Installation, blown fibre and PON works. This has required us to increase our fibre optic cabling teams by recruiting experienced personnel as well as training those new to the field. Our advantage being that with our training division we can train novices, supporting them to become fully qualified whilst allowing us to meet our client contract requirements.

2023 – Expanded and Upgraded Fleet

2023 – Expanded and Upgraded Fleet

We required additional engineers and fleet vehicles to meet the demands of clients who placed their trust in our services and expanded contracts with us.

Continuing to strive towards our sustainability and greener company goals, over this year as the fleet expanded, it was also upgraded to meet the latest ULEZ standards whilst keeping us looking smart – reflecting our high standards of work and professionalism.

Our Core Values

We at PSS Installations are committed to our policies and our values are ingrained into our staff, which resonates throughout the company from Director level to on the road engineers

Mission Statement

PSS Installations was formed to provide the essential components to allow companies to deliver successful projects.

Based on 30 years of experience the provision of management, Consultancy, Installation services, recruitment and training in all the essential skills required for the safe delivery of the project requirements.

We endeavour to offer the highest quality and support across all our services to allow our clients to complete projects competitively and safely.

Environmental

PSS Installations:

  • is committed to minimising any detrimental impact on the environment that may result from its activities, and to consider its performance in this regard, and opportunities for improvement on a continuing basis.

Equality

The Company is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to a policy of treating all its employees and job applicants equally.

 

Data Protection

Our business will ensure that personal data that we hold is kept secure and that it is held for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is being processed.

 

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