Partnership: Dave Makepeace, Les Marshall junior, Les Marshall senior and Nigel Pocock
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Business profile: LSM Building Contractors
By David MillwardJune 29, 2012
The business: LSM Building Contractors LTD, 49a St Peter’s Road, Earley, RG6 1NT. Tel: (0118) 935 1895. Fax: (0118) 966 8300. les.marshall@lsmbuildingcontractors.co.uk, www.lsmbuildingcontractors.co.uk
The boss: Les Marshall. “I first worked for my dad in 1975 for his building/decorating company LW Marshalls.
“I worked for my dad for 13 years, learning the trade and then decided to set up on my own as LSM.
“I enjoy golfing and have two grandchildren and a daughter Emma and son, also Les Marshall, both who work for me and are directors in the company along with my wife Caroline.”
What is your business about? “The business is a building and decorating firm.”
What products/services do you offer? “We offer a range of services such as: mezzanine floors, electrical, lighting and data, air conditioning, carpentry and joinery, decorating, partitioning, suspended ceilings and also do complete strip outs and rebuild layouts either to our clients specifications or we can plan a new one.”
How and when did you start your business? “LSM was established as a partnership in 1987 by two of the current directors. As the client database grew, so did the need for a bigger premises so we moved to our office in Earley.”
How many staff do you employ? “We currently have around 30 staff.”
Who are your customers? “Our customers range from schools, colleges, universities, councils, letting agents, management companies, industrial companies, pubs, hotels etc and not forgetting local work.”
What sets you apart from the competition? “We have no wish to be a multi-national faceless company.
“We would rather retain the personal service we provide to our clients.
“Offering a professional, friendly and value for money service we ensure all our work is up to standard and our client is happy before we leave site.
“We are proud to have long-standing customers who have used us for the past 25 years.”
How has the recession affected business? “Like many other businesses we have felt the strain that the recession has caused but we made a lot of changes to the way we did things and worked very hard to stay on top.”
How do you feel about the future? “We are very hopeful that the future will be a positive one and that we can only hope to go onwards and upwards after a few years of struggle.”
