Our history, from humble beginnings…
by Paul Clark
From completing my initial apprenticeship back in the mid 1980’s I took the opportunity to spread my wings and joined a local Bus operator, Thamesdown Transport Ltd at the age of 21 and became the youngest skilled Engineer at the time.
From spending near to a decade with Thamesdown, obtaining promotions in this time up to Assistant Engineering Manager. I decided in late 1996 to explore an alternative courier path and finally decided on 01st April 1997 to enter the world of contracting and began as a sole trader under the name ‘Paul Clark Services’ Flying Fitter Service offering mobile engineering support to whoever needed it.
It soon came to light that this kind of work was very demanding and way more than one person could take on so I took the opportunity to persuade Michael Kerslake to leave Thamesdown and join me as an equal partner in PCS and help with growing the business.
We worked tirelessly to use our expertise around the country, Day or night, travelling around the UK in our vans taking on jobs from customers to help build the business up. Utilising our limited contacts it was a challenge but through hard working and recommendations things began to take off.
Shortly after Michael came on board we had began to establish ourselves and we again needed to recruit, this time we brought in Pete Castle and Paul Durose. Pete actually trained Michael and myself as apprentices so gave us confidence in what we were doing and Paul had shown in his time, also at Thamesdown that he was made of the right stuff to be part of our expanding team within PCS.
As 2002 approached, myself and Michael too the decision to take the business on and incorporate it as a Limited company. As time progressed, our reputation had also started to grow as well as the paperwork which we needed to keep the business going.
Working 50-80 hours per week on the tools left little time to keep on top of the admin side of the business.
By the time 2007 came around the number of engineers had grown and we were able to enhance the network we had with customers mainly around London, Midlands and the South West and our aim of being the go-to for Engineering Support was starting to take shape.
Myself and Michael took the decision to utilise our time more in the office and come away from being on the tools. We created an office space at my current home and began to focus on how the business would move forward in our new found roles.
In 2010 we were able to acquire our first premises for PCS and had began to grow in numbers with engineers coming into the business to work with us around the country.
The addition of Mike Britten, who came in and eventually became Service Delivery Director became instrumental in establishing PCS with a solid base for compliance and quality. Adding someone like Mike was imperative to taking our business to another level, he came with a wealth of experience from previous Directorship roles at Stagecoach, Arriva and First Bus and gave us the stability and expert detail that still to this day gives PCS the quality assurances that customers value so much.
In 2013 we moved premises again, this time being able to obtain our workshop facility where we have been ever since and have been able to thrive with bringing work into the business from nearby customers and our contacts in the Bus and Coach network.
With this addition, alongside Mike we began growing numbers once again and the reputation of PCS numbers were allowed to increase year on year not only in our engineering team but also in the relationships we had with customers and the name PCS soon became the one to be mentioned to businesses should they require supporting labour in their workshops.
The new premises gave us the addition of three units to expand the workload we brought in and satisfy more customers who relied on our expert support. By doing this, it allowed our management team to grow again and with this allowed us to manage key customers better around the country.
From 2015 our numbers were growing at such a rate we had exceeded nearly 100 engineers within the PCS family and this was all down to the management team and efficiency of our office staff keeping the wheels turning to get us where we are today.
Between 2019 and 2020 we became accredited by the IMI enabling us to undertake IRTEC Inspection status and along with taking the investment to do high voltage training it has allowed PCS to evolve with the times where necessary.
Regretfully 2020 presented some very challenging times during the outbreak of covid-19 which seriously reduced numbers and revenue but our persistence and hard work by all kept us above water allowing us to come through the other side and in 2021 we managed to recoup lost revenue and support taking us back to numbers we had previously experienced before the pandemic took place.
Paul Clark Services has always strived to be the go to company for support in the Road Transport Industry and our standards have not changed since Michael and myself began this journey.
For those from the past to today, we thank you for everything to do with PCS!