At this year’s InstallerSHOW, Andrew Gaved caught up with Louchavan Lemard, this year’s national Plumber of the Year, to hear his story.
Louchavan describes himself as ‘driven’, and his enthusiasm for plumbing is unmistakable. Unlike many entrepreneurs, however, his drive is not focused solely on the bottom line.
After experiencing homelessness through much of his teenage years and leaving school without GCSEs, the founder of London plumbing and heating firm PH247 is motivated by helping disadvantaged young people progress. “Having a social impact means as much to me as being a commercially viable business,” he says. “The reason why I ended up setting up my own business is because I felt like I needed to do more to give back.”
He does not want his story defined by his background: “I don’t play the victim. If anything, it inspires me.”
Last year, he received an InstallerMERIT recognition for PH247, which he founded to support young plumbers facing hardship. He believes the industry can give disadvantaged young adults valuable opportunities.
“What you can see is 1% of what’s going on in a community, but you have 99% around the corner, which you can’t see,” he says. “When I got my first job, it was based on my attitude, not my academic background, because as my living situation wasn’t great, I wasn’t able to perform well in school.”
His lack of qualifications initially meant he was turned down for Level 2 Plumbing and Heating. Determined to progress, he passed Level 1, built his portfolio and secured an apprenticeship. He then moved on to Level 2 and thoroughly aced it, winning his college’s Apprentice of the Year award .
For Louchavan, that achievement should prompt reflection rather than celebration. “What it shows is that the industry is in danger of missing the best engineers, simply because the entry criteria is too high for many people. That’s why I always say that people should be recruited on attitude and not academics.”
That is why PH247 concentrates on personal development and long-term support. “Retaining them is vital too, but to get that, you need mentorship – the pastoral care is key,” he says. “These young adults come from a chaotic environment, so we are helping them move to more of a stable, structured environment. It’s kind of creating a gateway to the industry for these young adults.”
While InstallerMERIT recognised his charitable work, this year’s Plumber of the Year title in the inaugural Plumber Awards reflected the quality of his day job. Judges praised his ‘ability to deliver practical solutions that make a meaningful difference to homeowners’.
He sees both awards as a platform for growing PH247, which operates largely in west London. “I like to use the acronym FOCUS – Follow One Course Until Successful. So we have had to make sure that we’re profitable and sustainable. Now we’ve proven our competency and everyone knows who we are. Now it’s about capitalising on that.”
Since receiving an InstallerMERIT, Louchavan has become a brand ambassador for Mira Showers, joined the Worshipful Company of Plumbers, been named a Master Plumber and become co-chair of the board for apprenticeship standards at City and Guilds. This wider industry involvement is, for him, a key part of paying it forward.
He also secured business support and mentoring from Lloyd’s Bank after a pitching competition at the Black Business Awards. “It’s enabled me to pivot my business in a direction that is scalable and that makes sense,” he says. “It’s been brilliant.”
His latest project has a bold ambition: changing building owners’ attitudes towards maintenance. “Our tagline is ‘prevention is better than cure’,” he says. “Customers often see maintenance as expensive and disruptive, so they wait until something breaks.” Louchavan wants developers to adopt a more proactive approach.
His concept would provide an independent assessment between project commissioning and handover, examining system performance, operational efficiency and asset protection. This would allow developers to resolve issues before completion. The assessment would then be repeated every three to five years to monitor system depreciation.
“We’ll highlight any issues and we’ll give proactive recommendations,” he says. “Then we will produce a certificate, a bit like an EPC, but guaranteeing the efficiency and performance of your building services.”
In effect, it is a proactive alternative to the traditional snagging list – perhaps a ‘no-snag list’. Louchavan is preparing a pilot for a Huddersfield developer he connected with through Lloyds Bank. When it is complete, he plans to seek investment and roll out the concept more widely.
PH247 will remain focused on repair work, including correcting poorly specified renewable-heating installations involving air source heat pumps, heat interface units and underfloor heating.
“We spend a lot of time on underfloor heating because people don’t know how to correctly balance the systems,” he says. “We use thermal imaging cameras to do it.”
For Louchavan, moving towards compliance work is a natural step. “We understand the maths and science around plumbing and heating and we’re very good at creating reports and documenting things,” he says. “That’s why we’re going down the compliance route because we understand it and we’re good at it!”
Find out more at: PH247 | Premium Plumbing & Heating | London, UK
