From its beginnings in a garden shed, Waterlip Electrical Contracting (WEC) has grown into a family-run business with 13 staff delivering commercial, industrial, and domestic electrical work.
Founder Connor started the company six years ago, building the team around trusted family and friends. As the business grew, so did the paperwork, and the old systems quickly became unsustainable.
“We were keeping up with the work, but we were just filling up our office with filing cabinets. Everything was on paper: testing, job sheets, materials. It became a nightmare to manage,” Connor says.
To address the challenge, WEC adopted Fergus, a job management software platform for the trades sector, which has reportedly halved its administrative workload.
Moving away from paper-based systems
Before implementing Fergus, WEC handled everything manually.
Job details were typed up in the office, printed for the team, and returned at the end of the week in stacks of handwritten sheets.
These were then re-entered into Excel for costing, checked against supplier pricing, marked up, and finally input into accounting software for invoicing.
“We had someone in the office all week just copying up paperwork. Then we’d print it out again if we needed it. It was just a massive time waste,” Connor explains.
This approach became harder to manage as the workforce expanded and job volumes increased.
“It’s been really hard trying to grow the business when you’re relying on spreadsheets and paperwork. There was no easy way to manage everything in one place,” he adds.
Time savings and efficiency gains
Since adopting Fergus, the company says it has streamlined operations and freed up staff time.
“Now the lads get to site and everything they need is on their phones. Job sheets, materials, notes – it’s all there. And they’re filling it in properly every time, which never used to happen,” Connor reports.
He estimates that automating job sheets alone has saved four days of administrative time each week. One employee has returned to site work, while another has been able to focus on higher-value office tasks.
“I can invoice a customer before the lads have even left [the] site,” continues Connor. “That used to take hours, now it takes minutes.
“Also, the lads would take photos on their phones and we’d spend hours uploading everything to Dropbox. Now they use the Fergus app and it’s instantly in the system, even if we’re 150 miles away.”
Having all information in one place has allowed Connor to dedicate more time to developing the business, he claims.
Results for WEC
By moving away from paper-based processes and adopting Fergus, WEC has reportedly:
• Freed up around four days of administrative time each week
• Reduced manual data entry and duplicated work
• Improved visibility across all jobs
• Accelerated invoicing and improved cash flow
• Given the team more time to focus on customers and growth
“It’s completely changed everything we do. Fergus has saved us so much time and stress,” Connor says.
For more from Fergus, click here.