New LED Lighting Installation in Top London School

Working with organisations in order to reduce their carbon footprint is something we specialise in. The photos here show the staff break out area of a top London school before and after we installed 32 watt LED panels last week.

Photo one shows the existing lights which give’s at 700mm height from FFL 328 Lux’s using 1.1Kw of power (approx. 0.15p per hour).

Photo two shows the newly installed lights complete with 0.10V dimming and give’s at 700mm from FFL on full 98% dimming 845 Lux’s using 0.44Kw of power. (approx. 0.06p per hour).

I'm sure you'll agree the difference is quite marked, and obviously, as well as improved lighting & performance, customers also benefit from much cheaper running costs and longevity. The longevity is a result of less heat loss from the fitting, which is the main reason for failure of light fittings.

If you are interested in seeing how much you could save in this way, please call me on 01268 523 245 to arrange a survey. We will look at your current lighting and energy usage and provide a detailed report on what options are available to you in terms of cost savings and lower carbon footprint for changing your lighting to more energy efficient fittings.

BREXIT

I'm a real Europhile. I love being "European" and I'm not particularly seduced by nationalist feelings, perhaps due to my mixed heritage. But even given that, I can't see what benefit there is to staying in the EU, an organisation which seems to contradict so many of the moral and social principles I hold dear, aims at federalism when I value subsidiarity, and hasn't had any audited accounts for 20 years!! The only arguments I've heard for staying in boil don't to "bad things will happen if we leave". I don't buy it. We're a net contributor, we'll make a net saving by not buying in. For example, we are the 4th largest importer of BMW. Are you seriously telling me that Germany will want to jeopardise that market place?

The Magic Sales Ingredient

This week I have been out of the office quite a lot visiting clients and have seen reasonable success. Obviously this is a great boost to my motivation levels as well as the performance of the business.

I have always had a knack at sales and know that, when I want to I can, as my dear Mother is fond of saying, sell snow to the eskimos.

But there's more to my approach than just clever persuasive techniques.

I start by finding out how a customer's business works. I am really interested in what my customers do, what they produce and how they make it. My fascination with the manufacturing process allows me to contextualise what they are doing and make suggestions as to what we might do to improve their process. You see my goal is not to simply sell as much stuff to a customer as possible, but to form a long-term business relationship which is mutually profitable. L&B Technical Services Ltd must add value to our clients. If we do, we succeed, our customers succeed, everyone wins.

Developing a thorough understanding of customer's processes make L&B Technical Service Ltd better at adding value to their businesses.

This ability to find a synergy between two organisations is such an unusual approach in practice that it often takes clients some time to recognise that it is genuine. They can think it is some kind of strange scam. Why would a potential supplier be interesting in helping them? To me, the question is why would a potential supplier not be interested in helping their clients?

Can this knack be passed on? I'm not sure it can. You have to have a will to help people; it has to be one of your main motivations. You have to have an interest in manufacturing processes and a desire to innovate. You have to have integrity in your approach—what you know and what you say must be the truth. The products and services you offer must genuinely improve the process noticeably for the customer. And you have to be motivated to do this, because even when you are good at it, sales is 90% motivation. If you can stay motivated even when you are having a bad day, you know it is just a numbers game. Even when nothing is working, you just have to play the numbers, make a few more calls, and you will find someone who needs some help.

If you would like us to take a detailed look at your manufacturing process, wether it is welding or mechanical, whether you are interested in welding plant, automation, abrasives, weld purging, fasteners, or hand and power tools, just give us a ring and we will pop down and meet up!

If you think I have described you perfectly and you're interested in furthering your career in sales with a company that puts people before profit, get in touch and arrange a meeting.

To see an overview of the products and services L&B Technical provide, take a look at our website here.

EV's Get a Boost

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin will today announce the first ‘Go Ultra Low Cities’ set to share a total £40 million Government budget for improved electric car infrastructure.

The eight champion cities were chosen after each pledged innovative ideas as part of an initiative that will deliver cutting-edge technology to millions of motorists. The ideas include rapid charging hubs, street lighting that can double as electric car charge points, and special privileges for plug-in car drivers – like exclusive access to previously restricted bus lanes.

See full article here.

This is a positive move if we are to meet our target commitment with regard to the environment. Conventional electricity is responsible for 30% of Britain’s carbon emissions – it’s our biggest single source as a nation – and therefore the biggest single thing we can change. Whatever the current situation, we need to move forward with energy generation and find new and sustainable ways of powering our society. To make this change, we need governments to incentivise projects like electric vehicle (EVs) roll out. The biggest thing stalling the growth of the EV market is range anxiety, therefore investment in infrastructure is essential.

I would very much like to run an electric fleet at L&B Technical Services Ltd and as part of our commitment through ISO 14001 we are constantly evaluating out environmental impact and considering ways in which we can reduce our carbon footprint. It is obvious to me that vehicles are the most effective area we can address. To that end, we have recently ordered our first electric vehicle. Depending on our experience with that, we may soon be all electric!

Keeping Focus: On or In the Business?

I'm puzzling over a bit of a dilemma this weekend.

I have two distinct aspects to my business born of the expertise of myself and my co-director. The organisation was set up as an engineering firm, but as I have become increasingly involved, and since I sold my shares in another company I owned which sold tools and engineering supplies, I have been increasingly interested in developing a sales dimension to L&B Technical Services Ltd, using our expertise to supply tools and welding consumables to trade, industry and commerce in the South East of England and up the East Coast (Suffolk/ Northamptonshire/ Linciolnshire/ Herefordshire/ Peterborough/ Norfolk). A couple of years ago now I merged a third business I own with L&B Technical Services Ltd, which also sells engineering and welding products. Obviously this is an allied area of industry and there are distinct advantages to the amalgamation in terms of sourcing product.

We have secured some important distributorships, notably Huntingdon Fusion Techniques superb range of Pipe Purging Equipment and Kemppi, probably the most popular brand of welding plant in the world today!

Our engineering function is currently much larger than our supplies function, but I would like to see that change and have been dabbling quite a bit, employing different sales people and admin staff to see if I could find someone who would really make it roar ahead. I haven't.

In fact the sales thing is quite extraordinary. How does one find a decent sales person these days? Even with my extensive connections in the marketplace, I don't even know anyone good enough to poach even if I could! I think the model used to be that someone would join a trade counter and learn about products and services, eventually seeking promotion to field sales. Things are very different today with on-line buying and the job of the sales rep seems largely redundant. Still, the same old players are out there earning a living, so there must be something to say for the tried and tested way of doing things.

So now I face a dilemma. I could just leave the sales function bubbling along as it is and through all my energy and commitment into the engineering aspect of the business, or I could do what I do best and get out there and sell to the customers myself. This would be fun and I know I can do it, but can I continue to effectively work on the Company and work in it at the same time? Taking your eye off the ball can be the worst mistake anyone makes in business, but does getting more involved with the work of the Company mean taking my eye off the ball or being more on it?

Another part of the equation is that I feel quite stagnant in the office. I would like to get out and about and shake things up a bit; see where I can take it. It could be a healthy and valuable change for me to get out a bit and see the customers, after all who has more passion and belief in L&B Technical Services Ltd and the products we supply than me?

If you would like to know more about the products and services we offer at L&B Technical Services Ltd, please do not hesitate to call and arrange a meeting, or check out our website here for mechanical and electrical engineering, facilities maintenance and engineering consultancy and here for hand and power tools, fixings and fasteners, abrasives, welding plant and consumable and other allied products.

High Level Lighting Project in the City

Energy efficiency is becoming an increasing priority for businesses these days, especially with more and more Companies insisting conformance to the ISO 14001 standards. This accreditation (obtained by L&B Technical Services Ltd in 2013) allows your organisation to demonstrate that environmental impact is something carefully considered and that you are putting in place systems that will not only benefit the environment but will also reduce costs and improve efficiency within the organisation.

L&B Technical Services Ltd are keen to exploit new technology to bring about these benefits, and consider it part of the service we offer to be constantly looking at new technologies and advising customers of ways in which it can be utilised to achieve cost savings and energy efficiency.

One of the simplest ways to do this is by evaluating your lighting, what kind of lighting you are using and how it is programmed. Last weekend, one of the jobs we were involved in was just such a project for one of the most prestigious banks in the City of London.

The project involved analysing the high level lobby lighting and presenting a plan for more efficient usage programme. We replaced 19 high level light fittings and replaced them with Zumtobel LED light fittings, new LCMs and reprogrammed the lighting to run at 80% during daylight hours and 50% during night time hours for energy efficiency. Of course, we had to erect a scaffold to enable us to reach the lighting, and the whole project had to be completed within out of hours time, so that it was complete when the work for returned on Monday morning.

If you are interested in what savings L&B Technical Services Ltd can achieve for your organisation, or want help or advise regarding the broad range of electrical and mechanical engineering services we are able to offer, please do not hesitate to contact me directly on our office number: 01268 523 245