The day for any gas-elec engineer begins the night before at six when he checks the business’s bespoke online bookings system to see what jobs have been booked for him for the coming day.

It’s also a good idea for the engineer to check the details of the jobs booked, so that he fully utilises his time. He’ll also preview the specifics of each job, so that he knows ahead of time whether it is a gas and/or electrical inspection, a boiler service or if it’s a full day of installation work.

"I tend to leave the house around seven in the morning to ensure that I’m at my first appointment promptly. I’ll call in to the regional office around ten to let them know that I’m up and about. I’ll also use this time to discuss any customer or job when special requests have been made," says David.

"In some instances I deal directly with the tenant, but in other situations I’ll communicate with the lettings agent or the landlord. This is particularly true when it comes to accessing the property and collecting the keys.

"Both instances provide an excellent opportunity to build a relationship with the customer and market our other products and services to them: I view every interaction as a marketing opportunity, because you never know that your next big customer could be the person you’ve recently spoken to."

David has been a gas-elec engineer for over ten years and has renewed his five-year contract for a second term. As a result, he has built up a strong, loyal customer base that trusts his advice and abilities.

"This type of customer relationship means that I am able to identify problems that have appeared since my last visit, and give advice on other safety issues that they may be concerned about," adds David. "While the core gas-elec business model is about safety inspections and services, customer service is paramount. It could be coming back each year to check the gas meter, the cooker, or the boiler, but it is dealing with the customers that makes the job enjoyable: every day is different and I can honestly say that I still find each day exciting."

According to David, the end of a gas-elec engineer’s day is dependent on work load. "When I get home, the first thing is a quick cup of coffee and then it’s onto the computer in order to input all the data collected throughout the day to ensure that the customers receive their certificates timeously."

This usually takes about 45/60 minutes a day.

"Depending on the time of day, I will ring the office again to update them on how the day went. By this time it’s normally about 6 pm and time to download the work for the following day, a quick scan just to look at what is planned and then that’s it until the following morning."

In addition to the daily inspection work, David prepares quotes for various remedial jobs booked by customers. Each jobs needs to be priced up with suppliers and submitted to the customer through the regional office.

"I am also fastidious about my accounts and for the past 11 years I’ve sat down at the end of each month and brought my accounts up to date, so that when year-end comes I simply print a summary for my accountant. This takes approximately three hours each month, but really speeds up the whole accountancy process. I also use the gas-elec online system as an assistant."

David spends approximately three hours per week marketing, which includes the distribution of leaflets to households in his area. "I am also always on the lookout for training courses and attend about three external courses a year. This is an important aspect of any business, but particularly when you’re dealing with safety regulations that do change."