Phil Burchell is the Managing Director at Admiral Security Systems in Surrey. Areas of expertise for the company are intruder alarms, CCTV, access control and door entry systems and accreditations include NSI Gold, Construction Line, Safe Contractor Approved, Trading Standards Buy With Confidence and Which Approved.
Do you use a distributor or buy direct from manufacturers?
We have strong working relationships with both distributors and manufacturers; we don’t tend to favour one over the other, we purchase our products based on clients’ individual needs.
Is third party accreditation beneficial to your company?
Yes, accreditations are extremely important to us and we are really proud of all the accreditations that we hold. It gives us the opportunity to demonstrate our high standards of work and credibility before we even complete the job. This gives customers the confidence and extra level of assurance that they can trust us and we will complete all jobs to a high industry standard.
What would be a typical project for you?
There is no such thing for a typical project for us! We work in all types of industries on projects of varying size – from home security systems to blue chip companies in London. We offer all of our customers a free no obligation survey and then we typically work with them to design a bespoke security system to suit their needs as well as installing and regularly maintaining their systems.
Are there any common requests from customers that give you problems?
The most common request is that the customer would like it installed immediately and for half the price. Our main goal is to ensure that we manage all customers’ expectations; designing and installing a bespoke system takes a little extra time to ensure that we are giving our customers the best possible solution for their needs.
What will be the impact of home automation on the security sector?
It will open up potential new opportunities for Admiral as this would give us the opportunity to expand our product range and offer our customers a far greater security experience. This would also allow us to further train up our staff and give them the opportunity to expand their skill set and knowledge.
Do you think there is a skills shortage in the industry? Any trouble recruiting?
Yes, it is very difficult to find the right kind of people with the high standards of skills that we look for when taking on new staff. We are very particular when it comes to recruiting new staff as we are not only looking for highly skilled and knowledgeable people, but also people that embody our ethos here at Admiral. One of our Directors started his career as an apprentice with us, working his way through the rankings and is now our Operations Director. We ensure that all of our staff have all of the relevant training and try to develop them in their existing roles as well as allowing them to expand into more senior roles.
What is the industry’s biggest myth?
It is surprising how many customers think that you are more likely to be burgled if you have an alarm system, as they believe that it appears as if you may have something worth stealing.
Read the full interview in the November 2016 edition of PSI magazine
