Mainsford has worked out of the same yard on Foundry Lane since 1968. Twelve employed engineers, 18,400 jobs in the book, and one rule that has not changed in fifty-eight years.
Founded
1968
Engineers
12
Jobs logged
18,400
Districts
9
Rating
4.9/5
Est. 1968
“If you cannot tell someone the price before you start, you do not know your trade well enough yet.”
Douglas Mainsford
Founder, 1968 to 1996
Douglas started with a van and a rented workshop on Foundry Lane in the spring of 1968. His rule was that a customer is told who is coming, what it will cost and when the certificate arrives, and that none of the three changes once the work starts.
Hourly rates went in 2018 for the same reason. Today his granddaughter runs the office and twelve employed engineers work out of that same yard.
Premises
14 Foundry Lane, Harwick
Registration
Gas Safe 512440
Insurance
Public liability to $2M
Guarantee
12 months on labour
Fifty-Eight Years
Five decisions that changed how Mainsford works. Everything between them was ordinary jobs, done the same way.
1968
Douglas takes a lease on the workshop the firm still works out of, and buys the first van outright rather than on finance. The firm has never borrowed against a vehicle since.
1 van · 1 engineer
1984
Two engineers qualify on gas appliances. Boiler work passes half the book for the first time and the firm stops taking general building work altogether.
3 vans · 4 engineers
2001
The office starts holding renewal dates for rental clients instead of waiting to be called. Twenty-five years on it is still the largest single service the firm runs.
6 vans · 8 engineers
2018
Hourly rates are dropped entirely. Every job is quoted as a figure before an engineer is booked in, and the figure does not move because the work ran long.
8 vans · 11 engineers
2026
Every district is covered by an engineer who lives in it, which is what holds the 90 minute emergency average across the last 500 call outs.
9 vans · 12 engineers
The Short Version
Almost every complaint about this trade comes from one of these five. They are in writing so you can hold us to them.
Pricing
Parts
Who turns up
Diagnosis
Paperwork
The Engineers
Every engineer is employed by Mainsford, not subcontracted. You are told which of them is coming before the day of the visit.
Operations manager
With the firm
34 years
Handles
Quotes and scheduling
Ticket
Gas Safe 512440
Lead heating engineer
With the firm
11 years
Handles
Boilers and commercial
Ticket
Unvented, F-Gas
Installations
With the firm
7 years
Handles
Underfloor and controls
Ticket
Water regs, Part P
Bathrooms
With the firm
5 years
Handles
Full fits and tiling
Ticket
Water regs, wet rooms
