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Mark Janes on raising new business heights

By Mark Janes

Managing Director, Protec Roofing (Southern) Ltd

Exemplary workmanship and a specialisation in quality materials have led Mark Janes’ company, Protec Roofing, to rise above and beyond the initial expectations he had when he started out.

And yet, despite the new heights of the company, its Managing Director remains down to earth, leading by example as the roofer he is by trade.

By building business relationships for longevity, much like the overhead structures in which they specialise, Mark and his brother Leigh have grown the family business turnover from £300,000 to £1.8 million over the last decade and things continue to look up.

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Protec is a genuine family company, what are the family links within the business?

My brother Leigh tends to work on the frontline, looking at jobs and enquiries. I operate more on the technical side of the business, running the jobs once we've got them.

My wife and my sister-in-law work in the accounts and my son works for us as well; he's a qualified QS. My brother-in-law is one of our site foremen. We’ve got six members of the family working in the business, so it really is a genuine family business.

Are there projects that you've worked on that you're particularly proud of?

Our work is very bespoke. We specialise in a material called Wecryl which is a liquid resin used as a balcony floor surface. We've been working closely with the manufacturers for several years and we're one of the leading companies across on the south coast using that product which is something we're very proud of. We’re also single ply specialists and have been since 2002.

In terms of projects, we do a lot of work in Legoland; we're currently doing the roof on their service building and we’re working our way through the park. We've also done the roof of the Mercedes building in Eastleigh and the BSkyB building in Chilworth. We work on big and small projects with main contractors, architects, and surveyors.

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"The industry does change, and you’ve got to keep an eye on the market but the essence of it is traditional workmanship with quality modern materials."

How are the materials evolving within the trade?

We’ve always worked with the best quality materials. We’ve got affiliations with the highest quality manufacturers like Sarnafil, Danosa, Bouda, and WestWood.

The industry does change, and you’ve got to keep an eye on the market but the essence of it is traditional workmanship with quality modern materials.

How is the industry being driven by the sustainability agenda?

The industry is always trying to look for greener ways of production.

Green roofs are popular, and they are more to do with water storage – they keep the rainwater in the system and provide an ecosystem for plant life.

Insulation is key. Our roofing meets the current building regulations for installation and regulations regarding insulation value are always at the fore of what we do.

The regulations have just changed in July: The U-values and regulations change about every five years, so you’ve got to keep on top of that.

What’s been the biggest challenge for the business?

Getting people to work for you and respect you is quite difficult. My approach has always been to work alongside the guys, work hard, don’t get them to do a job you wouldn’t do yourself, and if you really get stuck in then they’ll naturally follow you.

Our workmanship has always been to a high level and something that we’ve never compromised on. We’ve trained most of our people through our own environment because it’s not an industry where there’s a lot of training – it’s notoriously unregulated.

Getting people that are invested is difficult. The industry doesn’t seem to attract young people into it anymore, so that’s tricky. It could take four or five years to train people, and then giving them a career path is a challenge.

Cashflow has also been a challenge over the years. As with most business owners you’re exposed to the potential of not getting paid, which we have faced over the years but not to a point where it has put us in jeopardy. Growing the business but having the funds to keep expanding and keep pushing it on has always been a challenge.

"Getting people to work for you and respect you is quite difficult. My approach has always been to work alongside the guys, work hard, don’t get them to do a job you wouldn’t do yourself, and if you really get stuck in then they’ll naturally follow you."

Mark Janes - Managing Director, Protec Roofing (Southern) Ltd

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?

I play quite a bit of golf. I enjoy spending time with friends and family especially my wife and two children. We live in Swanick near the River Hamble; we’ve got a boat so we do a bit of boating on the river and in the Solent.

I used to work seriously long hours, but then you realise that life and your time is more important than money so there’s a balance to be had in life.

What do you admire in people?

I admire people who work hard and lead by example. And those who have got a balance in life as well. Ultimately, I think you’ve got to treat people how they want to be treated and give people respect. I like building rapport and relationships to last in business.

I’m not driven by money. What drives me is a business where the people working are happy and where we look after each other.