STEVE GREHAN Senior business development manager, HLA Services HLA Services is the North East's leading air conditioning, climate systems and temperature control specialist.
Can you tell us about your role at HLA services?
Every day is different but it normally involves being out and about and developing our client base. I have been with the company for 16 years, so I have a wealth of contacts that I am constantly communicating with in order to grow the business and maintain our customer service standards.
What is HLA’s USP?
Where we differ from our competitors, is that we offer such a broad spectrum of services, all of which are dealt with in-house. This means that it is always HLA personnel attending site as, unlike many of our competitors, we do not subcontract which allows us to offer a far more personal service.
Our clients are very busy with day-to-day operations and they value that they can pick up the phone, day or night, and have access to all of the services we offer. For example, a client may enter in to a maintenance contract with us for their heating systems but this also opens them up to having the option of calling at any time for a different service.
This is a unique offering and one that has helped clients out of tricky situations. I have lost count of the amount of calls we have had for emergency electrical repairs. Most local electricians clock off at 5pm but we provide a 24/7 service and that is something that our clients take comfort in knowing they have access to at all times, even if it is not for the original service they signed up for. The services our clients can access include mechanical services, commercial heating, electrical, plumbing, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, fabrication, water hygiene, air filtration services and many more that can be found at HLA Services | Air Conditioning & Refrigeration.
What does the next five years look like for HLA Services?
The business is growing at such a rapid rate that we have recently employed a second business development manager, Matt Chojnacki-Wood, to help me coordinate and streamline our expansion.
The HLA team is large, meaning the size of contracts we are able to take on are significant in value, many in excess of £1m on our project side. We are expanding at optimum rate because we have developed a strategic business model that can cope with rapid growth and we constantly reassess, looking for ways to strengthen our offering, and take great pride in our proactive approach to business development.
Matt, has joined as part of this strategy and will be developing our client base in the Teesside and Yorkshire areas, as well as developing some of our speciality areas.
What is your proudest achievement at HLA?
I’ve been with the company for 16 years and have witnessed it grow first hand from a small but determined business, in to a mighty and strategic powerhouse, one which has nearly 100% return rate on its maintenance side. Credit has to be given to our directors, Paul Smith and Neil Henry, for their vision and calm heads during difficult times in the economy, and the entire team that has helped us build our trustworthy reputation.
Our client base is, as much as it possibly can be, bombproof. We are back to working at pre-covid levels, if not better, and currently recruiting, which is a clear indicator of the confidence we have in our market position. Working across a number of sectors and industries including health, manufacturing, education and retail, means that we are never too affected by economic shockwaves.
With our strong business model, reputation and team, nothing is left to chance and that is why we are simultaneously able to grow and maintain our existing client base, providing best-in-class service at all times
