In 1992, back when we were doing regular building work, we decided to go for commercial contracts in addition to public sector ones.

We did a lot of work for a brewer in Yorkshire and one day they asked if we had a maintenance division. We said no, but we could set one up.

So we got a man in a van and sent him out on a day-to-day basis doing work for this one client.

We began to add more people and spread the word and now we have 40 maintenance vans on the road in London.

Last year we did £1.5 million in commercial sales and we’ve increased 10 per cent year on year. Meanwhile, our public sector revenue has dropped from £2.5 million last year to around £150,000 this.

A wise decision indeed.