23 Jul Spreading Our Wings
Having steadily grown our customer base from its conception in 2010, Airmac made the nerve-wracking and business changing decision at the end of 2016 to relocate from its 2 man office 500sq ft. workshop near Clydebank to what was felt would be our new home for many years in Cumbernauld. The unit was 4 times the size of our previous home of 6 years and in our initial impression, more space than we needed. We did, however, hope through time to grow into the new premises.
We also increased our workforce by 20% and opened the doors to a new venture which saw us taking on the authorised franchise for the Gardner Denver Range of Vacuum Pumps and Blowers. This complemented the existing franchise we held for their range of compressed air equipment. This move put Airmac in the enviable position of being Gardner Denver’s sole “One Air” partner in Scotland.
Within 18 months, we realised we had underestimated the strength of our business and the growth we experienced in that short period led us to re-assessing our position in the market. Do we stay where we are and possibly stagnate or do we once again trust both our judgment and our business strength to forge onwards and upwards.
The decision was easy. We know we have what it takes to be a major player in the industry. We had implemented an excellent work ethic and we were hungry for success. We, therefore, upped sticks and relocated to a unit of 4,200 sq. ft.in January 2019. Surely this is us now?
How wrong we were? Shortly after the move in January 2019, we once again dipped our toe into a semi-related field by recruiting an engineer focused on Compressed Air Refrigeration repairs. We became F-Gas certified and as opposed to outsourcing dryer/chiller repairs, we kept this in-house.
We have also become successful in Air Conditioning maintenance, repair and installations adding the Mitsubishi range of these products to our portfolio. This move has allowed existing customers to use us for additional services they most likely would have sourced elsewhere.
We once again recruited, adding an apprentice refrigeration engineer to the business, strengthening and showing confidence that we will be committed to making this field as successful as the Compressed Air and Vacuum sectors.
Fast forward 18 months and in the middle of the worst crisis to hit the UK in our lifetime we find ourselves in the extraordinary position of needing more space.
We have secured an additional unit, increasing our floor-space to just under 6,500 sq. ft., which will allow us to invest in and expand our workshop, creating a working environment and facility we believe will be second to none in Central Scotland.
We want our customers to be able to pop in at any-time unannounced. We want them to see we are organised, professional and take a great deal of pride in what we do not only on their sites but behind the scenes here too. We want them to see us for what we really are “Warts and all” without there being any warts.