In the last year, Standard Electrical has turned its attention to energy efficiency. The result has been its best year in the company’s history. Construction Digital learns how it has achieved such growth
Written by Ellie Duncan & Produced by Nick Norris
When Gary Abrahamson’s father handed him the reins to Standard Electrical, the business he had founded back in 1946, his advice was to maintain an integrity and honesty within the company.
Today, Managing Director Abrahamson insists that his father’s words proved invaluable and have really been behind his successful running of the company since 1978. From a small electrical contractor with just eight employees, he grew the business to its current level – there are now 400 people working for Standard Electrical in South Africa. As Abrahamson says, the growth was “exponential”.
This year, the company has achieved yet more outstanding growth in the electrical engineering and contracting sector. “We had our best year ever,” he explains. He modestly attributes this growth to having “stuck at it” and “kept things going”.
AHEAD OF THE ENERGY GAME
However, there is more to Standard Electrical’s success than that. This year, it moved into retro-fitting in a bid to diversify and meet market demand – and it appears to have come at the right time. “When the economy crashed, which it did worldwide, we had already planned to move into energy retro-fits,” says Abrahamson. “That proved to be a very good strategic move for us because we’re keeping our people busy. There’s a huge demand for it.”
The company is retro-fitting buildings in order to increase their energy efficiency. In response to industry demand, last year it started a division called Standard Energy. “Now, with a shortage of power in South Africa, we’ve become specialists in going in and retro-fitting buildings, cutting power by up to 50 percent,” adds Abrahamson.
Part of the Green Building Council in South Africa, he says it has noticed a rise in the number of corporates requesting that their buildings be Green Building graded. “We have taken a major role with the Green Building Council, helping them formulate what the standard should be,” he explains.
Standard Electrical has also adopted green technologies to help monitor the energy efficiency of the buildings it works on. The online meters allow the company to collate data from each building every 30 minutes, and then report back to the developers every month.
Certainly, it has chosen the right time to become closely associated with the drive for energy efficiency. Carbon reductions are a hot topic, and South Africa has promised a 43 percent reduction in carbon by 2020. “Every building will have to be retro-fitted in South Africa in the next couple of years to meet those targets,” adds Abrahamson.
Another new technology that Standard Electrical is embracing is a system that it has sourced from further afield. “I’ve been to the UK to look at a building monitoring system, which we are now implementing into all of our buildings,” he explains. “All of our future buildings will have these systems that monitor the heartbeat of the building.
“You can tell how many kilowatt hours you use per month and what the maximum demand was. So we monitor the pulse of the building and that tells us how efficient it is.”
INVESTING IN SKILLS
Standard Electrical’s projects are mainly located in South Africa, although it has worked as far north as Algeria and Tanzania. It can now boast the title of one of the largest contractors in South Africa, according to Abrahamson.
“We offer the engineering understanding and, of course, the lighting expertise that our competitors don’t have. We’ve got the full package of skills within the company – so that’s really why developers come to us.”
Naturally, Abrahamson attributes much of the company’s quality workmanship to its highly skilled workforce. Every year, Standard Electrical spends 1 percent to 2 percent of its turnover on training in recognition of that. “We are spending money on our people and, in the long-term, it pays off,” he says. “We have a very low staff turnover.”
Operating in a niche market has proved a wise decision on the part of Standard Electrical. Its specialisation may lie in office blocks, shopping centres, factories, hotels and other commercial developments, but the company also works in the industrial sector.
Whatever project Standard Electrical is assigned, Abrahamson can guarantee that his company will work to the high standards it always has done; the same standards that have seen it build long-standing relationships with clients.“When the financial crisis came, we had to get out there and start selling ourselves,” he acknowledges. “But we have the finest name in the industry and it hasn’t been difficult to sell something when you’ve got a very good name.”
As long as Standard Electrical continues to work by its motto, it will succeed: “Delivering innovation and value without compromise.”
FACTS AT A GLANCE
COMPANY NAME: Standard Electrical Company
MD: Gary Abrahamson
OPERATIONS: Electrical engineering & contracting for commercial & industrial buildings
EMPLOYEES: 400
REVENUE: R300 million
www.stanlec.co.za