Derbyshire based WB Power Services (WBPS) has recorded its most successful year in the company’s 38-year history, with profits up 30 per cent on the year before.
The exponential growth is down to a combination of the company boosting its service capabilities and scaling up activities to meet the surge in demand for critical power systems across several key industries, including data centres, construction, and the utilities sector.
The family-run business is the UK’s largest distributor of Kohler generators in Europe; and has posted a turnover of £44.5m for the year to 30 April 2021, up from £25.7m in 2020. Its projected turnover for the 2022-23 year-end is set to increase to £100m.
To keep up with growing demand for Kohler’s generators as well as WB’s industry leading services, the company has increased the number of depots it has around the UK, recently opening its ninth in Milton Keynes easier on in the year.
“We’ve experienced significant growth over the last three years and have ramped up our service capabilities to keep pace and ensure we can consistently deliver the service we’re renowned for – which is providing emergency power, when and where it’s needed,” explains Andy Wilmott, managing director at WBPS.
“Customers come to us in part because of the high-performance Kohler generators we supply. However, it’s our ability to deliver critical power to our customers – wherever they are in the UK – within four hours of receiving the emergency call that enables us to stand-out from the competition. This year alone, we’ve met over 95% of call outs within this time frame, with the majority occurring within just two hours.
“The scaling up our UK activities has been fundamental to the success and growth we’re seeing year on year. We now employ over 200 staff across a country-wide network of service centres, workshops, depots, and offices around the UK. This includes a team of 150 highly qualified engineers providing specialist knowledge and insight for consultants when specifying generators, as well as servicing emergency call-outs for back-up power.”
The company has also invested heavily to expand the number of Kohler rental generators in its fleet – doubling the number available to 1000 across the UK, including many Stage V engines that are cleaner to operate and produce lower emissions. These generators are mandatory for any construction projects in London and other major cities, and likely to be deployed more widely as the country moves towards its net zero emissions targets.
Andy concludes: “Despite it being a challenging year, it’s also been our most successful to date. We continuously put our customers’ needs at the heart of everything we do. Regardless of the industry – construction, datacentres, utilities or events – our customers rely on us to provide them with power when they need it most. It’s our strong family values and pride in the work we do, that ensures each member of the WBPS team is committed giving our customers the best possible service.”