Commercial hot water and heating company Lochinvar has recruited four new members of staff at its Banbury HQ in response to growing demand for its products and expertise.
The company has seen a surge in inquiries spurred by wider economic growth, particularly in the building services engineering sector. Construction and its related sectors are expected to grow by as much as 13% this year with work in the commercial building market likely to rise sharply as delayed projects come back on stream, according to the Construction Products Association (CPA).
Recruitment companies are reporting growing demand for skilled workers in the building engineering industry and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) reported 1.29 million active job vacancies in late March, which is more or less the same as a normal year for the UK despite the impact of the worst recession in 200 years.
Lochinvar was able to retain all its staff through the lockdown periods and in Q1 of 2021 has already added Marketing Specialist Richard Reid; Technical Support Manager Will Griffiths; Customer Service Assistant Sara Nevett; and Trainee Internal Sales Assistant Natalie Hands to help deal with growing demand this year.
The addition of Will Griffiths, in particular, is an important step for Lochinvar as after sales customer support is a key factor in the companies drive to enhance and add value to customer relationships.
This follows the creation of two Senior Regional Sales Manager roles in 2019, with Dave Slevin and Scott Mason taking on these new positions, and reporting to Lochinvar’s Sales Director Liam Elmore.
It also appointed two new area sales managers last year: Dean Thornton to cover London, West Sussex and Surrey and Will Brook for the South West of England.
Expanding the sales team at Lochinvar and balancing the roles of the internal and external sales function enabled Lochinvar to continue to offer the highest level of customer care, as well as service the increased demand for renewable technologies such as heat pumps.
These key appointments were part of Lochinvar’s goal to increase UK coverage and supported the launch of a series of new products including high efficiency, low NOx boilers; stainless steel water heaters and additions to its range of air source heat pumps.
“There is growing confidence in the market and we are receiving positive signals from our customers,” said Lochinvar General Manager Eelco van Driel. “We were able to retain our staff despite the impact of the pandemic on the wider industry and that has given us a strong base from which to build back quickly.”
“Like many other companies, we have embraced digital technologies, greater automation and new ways of working, but at the end of the day, a company is only as strong as its people. We are delighted to be able to keep growing our workforce and investing in their training and development as they will be key to our future,” he added.