29 August 2024
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Located opposite the Gulliver’s Valley Resort theme park in Sheffield, Force Contracts is an HVAC solutions provider on one hell of a ride. ACR Journal editor Andrew Slater met the team committed to delivering quality service and developing the industry’s skills.
From the outside, you might assume that Force Contacts is a typical contractor. Its unassuming office hosts a management team at the forefront of the business, with directors Andrew James, Claire Archer and Adam James answering phones to customers, looking at screens full of emails and making the tea. But there is much more to this company than simply servicing and installing equipment.
A family-run business established in 1982, it employs 14 people and serves commercial and domestic clients, including nationally recognised restaurants Nando’s and Wagamama and several schools.
“A modern company that instils family values and provides a service with transparency and honesty,’’ is how Operations Director Adam enthusiastically describes it. “We are also passionate about encouraging and supporting the next generation of HVAC engineers and encouraging younger people, especially women, into our industry,” adds Commercial Manager Victoria Roberts. “We have a management team comprising 50% women, and we launched the Force Contracts Plumbing Employer Skills Academy with The Sheffield College, which we believe is the only HVAC skills academy in the country within a further education college.”
The Employer Skills Academy is an innovative teaching and learning programme that sees The Sheffield College partner with businesses. According to the college, it “aims at providing outstanding technical and professional education for students’’.
Force Contracts Managing Director Andrew and his team support students studying level 3 BTech qualifications – soon to become T Levels, in their branded workshop at the college's Olive Grove site. Monthly curriculum-led sessions and a range of hands-on workshops, some with manufacturers, take place for fault-finding and installation practices, with students even obtaining manufacturer-certified qualifications in the process.
(l-r) Andrew James, Claire Archer, Adam James
“Further to teaching core industry skills alongside the college, we also have employability sessions where we teach skills such as how to specify work, create quotes and manage customers and suppliers,” said Andrew. “We hope that students will be better prepared to join businesses when they complete their education or even start their own business in the future.”
The passion for giving back to the industry is evident, and it is no surprise that taking extra interest is voluntary and usually comes at a financial loss. Additional commitments recently included installing manufacturer-donated air-to-water heat pumps and providing and installing the ancillaries required for each system, so students learn face-to-face with modern equipment. “We try to participate as much as we can,” said Victoria. “I have presented at the college's Women in Construction events, to the Level Two Plumbing students and we have participated in See It Be It events at schools for excluded children. For a small company, the investment we make is significant.”
This community educational approach is based on past experiences, with Adam explaining: “We offer apprentice roles, but have found in the past that away from academic learning, something was missing from the educational system: a link between the academic and real world. That’s why we became involved and launched the Plumbing Employer Skills Academy with the college.”
Force Contracts' next step in its educational crusade is a three-year commitment to Skills Street at Gulliver’s Valley, an age-appropriate, fun-filled, careers-focused educational learning centre with activities for school children and park visitors alike.
https://www.forcecontractsltd.co.uk/
