Lifeline Security is an award-winning, family business based in Newport. Tom Stroud unlocks the secrets of their success
“We’re specialist designers, installers and maintainers of electronic fire and security systems. When it comes to protecting life, safety or property electronically, that’s what we do.” Mark Lee is Managing Director of Lifeline. He joined the family business in 1996 and he’s in bullish mood when he talks about 2014. “Our customer service programme this year is going to underpromise and overachieve. We want to constantly exceed the expectations that people already have of us.”
The Lifeline story begins in 1990 with Jean and Graeme Lee, working with two engineers, operating out of a small office with a Calor gas heater and a couple of Bedford Rascal vans. Today there are 24 people in the team, based on Riverway in Newport. They have 12 engineers, two staff working in business development and four directors, with the rest of the team covering administration, sales and customer care.
“It can only be described as a grudge purchase,” says Mark when I ask him about their products. “Nobody really wants to have an alarm but it is considered a necessity. Sometimes it follows a bad experience on the security side. It can also be insurance company driven and that probably applies more to the small commercial and domestic markets. When it comes to the larger operations like new buildings they will have pre-designed fire alarms, intruder alarm systems, CCTV, access control and emergency call systems.”
Lifeline’s business is “probably 75 to 80% Isle of Wight”, and the team has also been working on projects in Maidenhead, Southampton, Eastbourne and Gosport. The mainland work has made a significant contribution to the business. Last year was Lifeline’s most successful ever with their highest turnover on record. Mark also attributes that success to working on Island projects like housing, schools, the new-look Busy Bee and with Island Roads. “We carried out all the installations for Island Roads including fully functional CCTV, access control, and intruder alarm systems. We’ve managed to secure work with most of the new- build houses on the Isle Of Wight. We aren’t excluded and a good relationship with the electrical contractor helps. We have a proven track record now.”
That track record was established early on. Jean and Graeme were quickly NACOSS accredited and the team now has an ISO 9000 Quality Assurance System to design, install, maintain and commission electronic security systems. They’re similarly certificated and fully qualified regarding fire alarms. Lifeline were winners at the National Security Excellence Awards in 2012, entering for the first time. They were nominated again in 2013 and picked up a Chamber Of Commerce Award in the same year. “The awards are a massive thing for us and the accreditations are valuable accolades, giving people confidence.” Lifeline are also official partners with Honeywell Security, Apollo Fire Detection and CSL Communications.
Mark says their business is around 60% commercial and 40% domestic, with the domestic market steadily increasing over time. The number of second and third homeowners on the Island is good for business although Mark notes “these days people are sometimes happy to cut corners and home security products are installed by mates and not professionals.”
“Sometimes people will say ‘all we want is an alarm’ and it only becomes important when it goes wrong. We approach it from the worst case scenario, so that everyone is covered including the client. There is a very strong culture now of risk assessment and insurance companies coming back to the designer. We need to be able to follow the paper trail back to the specifications. This can put us on the back foot locally because it can mean a higher cost so it’s up to us to convince the clients that we’re offering peace of mind.”
For Lifeline, the local market is different to the mainland and Mark says the Isle Of Wight is as “an interesting place” to do business.
“It’s a double edged sword when it comes to the marketplace. A positive thing is it teaches you very good customer service and customer interaction. Familiarity can breed contempt though. On the mainland we are in the marketplace with really big players like Chubb and ADT and we’re working for some of the biggest construction companies in the country, like Willmott Dixon for example. The Island can be a bit lackadaisical. Sometimes we’re asked ‘Are you an island company or are you a national?’ It’s a difficult balance putting over our professionalism while providing a local service.”
Technology has changed since 1990 meaning the products are more intelligent although still similar. It’s still essentially an alarm system but the modem has been replaced by wireless broadband links to CCTV networks with remotely controlled cameras, increasingly in HD. Labour has become more expensive and technology can come at a price too. “People do want James Bond at B & Q prices of course, but the key thing is that if your site isn’t being monitored then there isn’t much point in having an alarm.”
Mark’s brother Nathan Lee is Lifeline’s Technical Director. “Our ethos is quality from start to finish and at every stage,” he says. “From the design through to the components we select, the installation process and the continued after services, quality is the number one priority”.
As you’d expect, the business never stops. Lifeline has been a 365 day, 24 hour business “since the word go. We always have an engineer on call and you’ll always have a human operator”. Thunderstorms are the worst event the team has to deal with. In 2008 when a storm tracked right across the Island the team took 90 calls in 3 hours, with around 20 systems knocked out by the lightning. “Every man on the fleet was out on call, finishing work well after midnight but that was exceptional,” says Mark. Looking after that team is clearly important and the company has installed a gym and lounge facilities for their staff.
“As a company we want a blue-chip ethos, to be modern and seen to be crisp, clean, efficient and ethical. We have a ‘no blame’ culture here and if we fail, we fail collectively. If we succeed it’s as a team. We’re looking at continuous improvement. We want to grow the business by learning from our customers with even more detailed feedback. We’re producing documents for residential businesses. Commercially we’re working with mainland businesses to make sure we’re in the running for the good quality projects. That’s all about instilling confidence by continuing to deliver.”
First published in the June 2014 issue of Island Business magazine.
