Fanning The Flame Of Success

In 2011, John Savage was working for a national heating and plumbing merchant. Things were good, business was buoyant, and he was plainly doing a great job.

But at the back of John’s mind was the nagging desire to set up his own business. His favourite part of working for a national firm was dealing with customers at the trade counter.

So, he took the plunge and set up Flame Heating Spares. He would supply spares for boilers and work closely with the heating and plumbing trade to provide them with equipment, tools, radiators, pipes, thermostats etc.

It was the back end of the recession, so it proved a difficult time.

“It was tough,” said John, “but it meant that the company had to work hard to give customers great service and top-quality products at a competitive price from the very start. Looking back, it was probably a good thing because we couldn’t take anything for granted. We learnt a lot in a short space of time, and it showed the importance of having knowledgeable staff who cared about the business and went the extra mile to help customers.”

Fast forward to 2019 and John’s Flame Heating Group is the fastest growing Heating & Plumbing merchant in the North East of England, operating eight trade counters throughout the region, three in Scotland and one in the North West at Carlisle.

Over the next couple of years, John is aiming to add four more branches to the company and expand his workforce beyond the 70 who currently work for the business. Flame Heating Group has also moved to new headquarters in Boldon.

So, how has the company developed since he opened his first trade counter in 2011 and how has the heating and plumbing trade changed?

“When we first started the company, our main business was supplying boiler parts and spares to the trade, but we have steadily grown to now supplying a full range of heating spares, commercial plumbing & heating, boilers, pumps, controls and everything you need for a fully fitted bathroom. We’re proud to stock the industry’s biggest names, working closely with Worcester, a UK leader in boiler manufacturing, as well as being suppliers for Intergas, Ideal, Baxi and many more.”

One of his most recent developments is adding bathroom showrooms to his trade counters. He’s launched Azure bathrooms which as well as allowing customers to view the full range of bathroom furniture and fittings, it also gives them the chance to experience virtual reality. Customers are provided with headsets which will then show them how their bathroom could look. Flame have their own in-house design team who can bring dreams to life. It’s all part of making the buying of a bathroom suite an enjoyable experience. This is also something that makes Flame unique.

Another change has been a move to renewable energy. “This is becoming an increasingly more important part of the business. We are now one of the leading suppliers of biomass boilers and heating systems in the region and are helping both commercial premises and private houses reduce their carbon footprint. It is also something that helped us being named Scale-Up Business of the Year by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) at its national Celebrating Small Business Awards earlier this year. This latest success came hot on the heels of Flame Heating Group winning the North East award in March. We’re really proud of this recognition and it shows that all of the hard work behind the scenes is paying off.”

John is also quite rightly very proud of the contribution that Flame Heating Group makes to charity every year. The company has various fund-raising events culminating in a race night at Newcastle’s Gosforth Park. This year Flame Group is raising money for Sara’s Hope Foundation which helps families from the UK affected by the devastating impact of cancer. It gives those families a much-needed break from long hospital stays, traumatic medical procedures and cancer related treatments so that they may spend some quality time together.

“It’s all part of the family atmosphere we have at Flame Heating Group,” added John. “If it hadn’t been for the contribution of all the staff, especially in the early years, it would have been impossible to grow the company to this extent.”

There’s a full list of their trade counters and contact details on the website, including opening times, address and phone numbers.