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Clair adds : “ Our technical helpline is manned during office hours and our customers know that they can call to ask questions , and one of our technical experts will be on hand to help , whether it ’ s a question regarding gas , electric , or woodburning appliances .”
Staff satisfaction
With a range of high-quality products , combined with superior levels of service , it comes as no surprise that Percy Doughty is experiencing tremendous success . However , even its leaders couldn ’ t have foreseen the impressive growth that has characterized the last couple of years . “ Over the last few years , business has increased significantly , and we ’ ve expanded by around 70 percent ,” Andrew reveals .
“ Before the pandemic hit , we were scheduled to expand our facilities , but these plans went on hold for a couple of years , along with those of the rest of the country . As you can imagine , we outgrew our existing site very quickly , so we decided to proceed with the expansion in October 2023 . Phase one saw a large excavation project to reclaim our unused areas and extend our storage areas . We quickly recognized the opportunity to extend the entire length of the building , which we hadn ’ t initially intended , as it would be difficult to access the area if we decided to extend it further in the future .
“ We ’ re currently in phase two , constructing three buildings on the reclaimed land , which will comprise external storage units and updated manufacturing facilities . To date the investment is around £ 1 million , there will also be further investment in new state-of-the-art machinery such as CNC machinery and improved facilities for staff .
“ Although the business has expanded , it has remained within the same family since 1970 ; in fact , I ’ m the only non-family shareholder . We ’ ll always be proud of our roots , and forever humble , yet deeply proud of where we are today . It ’ s almost unheard of these days for people to spend so long in the same job role , but some of our employees have been with us for in excess of 30 years ! It ’ s safe to say that we ’ re extremely proud of our staff retention and our focus on internal progression .”
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