After flying high in the Royal Air Force for 25 years, Les Harris, 48, has come down to earth to build a new career on the ground as a plumber in Chippenham. His service in the RAF began as a policeman and ended as a loadmaster officer serving on Hercules and TriStar aircraft. As a Flight Lieutenant, Les commanded over 80 people and was instrumental in carrying out the risky process of air-to-air refuelling. His days in the military saw him visit over 100 countries and circumnavigate the globe twice. He’s also lived in a number of countries including Australia, Germany and Italy. You might think it would be hard to settle back into civilian life after decades of globe hopping, but the appeal of stability and family life is exactly why Les decided to retire to the countryside of Wiltshire. Starting a new life while nothing in particular about his military past has prepared him in a direct way for becoming a plumber, the technical skill and personal discipline he cultivated in the service have had more than a slight bearing on his ability to quickly learn the trade and start his own business based on knowledge and skill.

Now operating as Pelsatti Plumbing and Bathrooms (‘Pelsatti’ is an anagram of his and his wife’s first names), Les is enjoying the freedom of working for himself: “I like the fact that I am on my own. It’s all my responsibility. So when something goes wrong, it’s my fault. And when it goes really well, it’s down to me. From fixing a small problem to fitting a completely new bathroom that’s all tiled and looking brilliant – there is a lot of job satisfaction in that.” A relative newcomer to the trade, Les got into plumbing purely by chance. Having left the RAF with an honours degree in IT from the Open University, he thought he had set himself up with a career that would see him to retirement. He duly got a job at a Reading based software company as Head of Customer Relations, but soon found that being office-bound wasn’t the life for him: “My wife always knew I would never be happy with that, but I was convinced I would be. I was wrong. The worst part of it was the sedentary nature of the work – so all I did was put on weight and get miserable.”

A casual remark to a friend about wanting to find a new line of work was what liberated him from a future of day-to-day office drudgery. Within a short period of time, Les was taken on as an apprentice by a local bathroom installer who was building up his business. He needed someone whom he could trust to get on with the work, and Les was the perfect candidate. “For the first three months, I went with him on every job and learned the mechanics of plumbing. After that he left me on my own, but was always there for me to call on. I was 42 at the time, and it’s quite rare to get paid training at that age. But I can’t think of any other way I could have entered the profession.”Flying solo Les continued to accumulate the experience he needed to ultimately strike out on his own. He explains: “When I decided to go independent, that was it. All I wanted to do was have a job that made me happy and paid the mortgage. I never want to expand. I have no ambitions to be a rich man.” Now that he is in business for himself, Les is busy providing a full range of bathroom installation services: “I do all the pipework, pumps, installation of bathroom furniture, whatever is involved in turning an old bathroom into a new one. That’s 90% of what I do. The only thing I don’t do is anything relating to boilers. I can’t justify the time and money I would need to spend getting the qualifications. However, I did take a plastering course. It was £350 for four days and proved to be good value for money. After that it was just a case of practicing, which I did in my own home. Now I can do my own plastering on the job.” Judging by the brisk pace of business, Les is more than satisfying his customers.

He says that about two thirds of his work is based on recommendations. He explains: “The only way you are going to get known by reputation is to go out there and do the work. Often after I have finished a job, I will walk around the local area putting leaflets through the doors of the houses, because the neighbours will have seen my van. That way they know who I have worked for and can walk across to talk to my customer.” Tools of the trade Les has worked hard for his good reputation, and that’s not only due to his high standards of professionalism. He also demands the very best in the products he uses to get the job done. He is willing to spend that little bit more on tools, for example. He first used Milwaukee power tools in his apprenticeship days, and has been sold on that brand ever since. His current drill is going on four years old and hasn’t let him down once. He says that it comes with a five year replacement guarantee should it ever fail him, and that brings peace of mind. When it comes to showers, Les favours Mira for the combination of quality, price and installer-friendliness this brand offers: “The feel and quality of Mira is better than any other I’ve experienced. They are solid and smooth in operation, and I haven’t found one that you can’t get a service kit for. Another benefit they offer is that they all have 153mm centres, so you can do a like-for-like swap when you replace the shower. The only disappointment I have is with some of the electric showers. Though they work well, the plastic they are made from is a bit thinner than I would like.” In terms of shower trays, Les is more concerned with the material they are made from than the brand, though he does like Coram. “I like shower trays to be made of stone or natural acrylic stone because they stay where you put them. There can be problems with showers that move only the slightest bit, pulling away from tiles and allowing water to run into the cracks. There is less of a risk of that with the heavier trays.” Affordable option Another company Les often turns to is Bristan. He says their taps have that combination of quality and affordability that really appeals to his customers. Les is adamant that he installs only quality products for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that a poor quality product is bound to disappoint the customer, and this will reflect on him. It is for this same reason that he steers his customers clear of the DIY sheds: “The quality of those products is absolutely terrible. They don’t last very long, the instructions are usually quite poor and the components are cheap. I’m not willing to put my reputation on the line with something that is going to fall apart in a year.” Instead, he sends his customers to the local Plumbase in Chippenham, which has only just recently opened a new showroom. “My clients take my card because everyone at Plumbase knows me, so they look after them. My last client went there to choose her bathroom suite and told me that she had been given an excellent standard of customer service.” When tiling a bathroom, Les is a fan of Dunlop grouts and adhesives. “In the tiling world,” he says, “Bal is recognised at the best. I use Dunlop because it comes out of the same machine, it just goes into a different bucket. Plus it’s a bit cheaper, though still on the expensive side. I’ve used other brands, and they just don’t measure up. I also like the fact that the Dunlop adhesives are a bit lighter in colour than some of the others. So if it comes between the tiles, you don’t get a dark patch when grouting.” Because Les works in an area known for exceptionally hard water, he also recommends to his customers that they consider installing a de-scaler. He himself has fitted ScaleGuard in his own home, with great results. This product works by sending out a computerised modulated signal that changes the physical properties of the scale- forming calcium molecules. In this way it dissolves existing limescale and prevents its recurrence. “Many of my customers are looking for a cost effective remedy to their scale problems. ScaleGuard is much cheaper to fit than an conventional softener and, because it is easy to install, I am able to reduce my labour charge, making the whole package very attractive to customers.” No slowing down Les plans on installing a ScaleGuard on his next job, which is his biggest yet. In a project that will take between three and four weeks, he will install plumbing in all three storeys of an old Victorian house. He will also bring a bit of carpentry to the project, as one of the ceilings will have to be torn out and replaced. He enjoys the big jobs, interspersing them with the smaller ones to keep a comfortable working pace. Although he doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon, he does appreciate the power of deciding when and how often he works: “As I get older and pay off the mortgage on my house, I’ll be able to step down and do smaller plumbing jobs. Then I can work three days a week or just do one bathroom job a month. But for now, I think I will just keep going on as I am.”

Pelsatti Plumbing and Bathrooms
9 The Banks
Lyneham
Chippenham
SN15 4NS
Tel: 07967 963042
Email: ppb@pelsatti.com
Specialising in quality bathroom installation