SAS &Trewartha's Plumbing and Heating
Liskeard based SAS & Trewartha’s Plumbing & Heating was established over 12 years ago by Sean Smith. The company specialises in domestic and commercial plumbing & heating systems, bathroom installations and now solar energy. Since then the company has grown steadily taking on 10 more staff and now covering the whole of the county.
The company believes strongly in employment opportunity and has taken on many apprentice employees from the local area over the years, of which many are still employed within the company. There have been an additional 5 employees taken on since the introduction of broadband, which have directly contributed towards the growth of the business.
According to SAS & Trewartha’s Manager Ben Nevitte ”With two new apprentices starting in September, broadband has made it so much easier to find and organise training courses and ensure you are communicating with the right people. Having broadband offers an opportunity for the apprentices to take additional training online, saving time and traveling.”
Ben adds “Today’s regulation state that newly installed boilers, whether oil or gas need to be registered with Corgi or OFTEC and by doing these registrations online the company saves time, paperwork and money.”
With SAS & Trewartha’s doing over 200 boiler registrations a year, each one costing £2.00 less by registering online, the company easily covers the cost of their broadband connection through the savings.
Having connected to broadband and receiving a rebate from actnow, updating the IT systems within the office has also makes it easier for the companies internal and external contact with colleges, suppliers and sub contractors - all of it is now done online or via their intranet. Ben says “It has also been easier to source products on the Internet and do price comparisons in order to get materials at the most competitive prices. Also, our key clients expect the information stream to be quick through the use of e-mail.”
“A lot of our customers have access to broadband and use it for communication purposes and researching product performance. It is important to communicate via e-mail as there is an increasing amount of people who expect this sort of service. The Internet is really picking up momentum in Cornwall, reaching many areas that were previously unattainable.”
The recent introduction of the software “PC Anywhere” now offers Ben and Sean the opportunity to work flexibly from anywhere as if they were looking at the computer screen in the office. The benefit of this is it allows them to linking into the office networks in order to look at schematic breakdown drawings and put together quotations, project and contract costings - all from the comfort of their own homes!
The next move for the company in terms of IT is developing a company website with Yell which will give them an internet presence.
As Ben says “Broadband has opened up new doors and avenues and has helped us improve efficiency and cut down on costs. We are looking to the future and are thinking next of enabling our staff with PDA’s so they can work whilst on the move.”
