Gas Engineer Podcast

Scott McClure left school with next to nothing, walked out of the only work placement he was given, spent time in a young offenders prison, and had racked up around 40 offences before he was 17. Today he runs SMC Plumbing and Heating in Cardiff with over 800 reviews and an award-winning reputation. In this episode he proudly tells his full story of what led to prison, what changed, and what the trades gave him that nothing else could.

What does it actually take to build a reputation so strong that you work your way through an entire street on word of mouth alone? Dean Jones of Jones The Gas has close to 300 five-star reviews and a waiting list of customers who found him because a neighbour recommended him. In this episode he covers how he gets the reviews, how he handles complaints, how he prices for quality without losing jobs to cheaper competitors, and why swallowing your pride on a job is sometimes the best business decision you can make.

If you're not on social media, not reading Gas Safe updates, and only picking up regulation changes at your five-year ACS renewal, you might already be behind. Terry Sawyer spent years as a Gas Safe inspector in East London and Essex before returning to the tools, and he saw firsthand how much can drift in that window. In this episode he goes through the regulation changes that caught engineers out most consistently, why so many small updates go unnoticed, and why the new IGEM UP1B tightness test procedure is in a different category to everything that came before it. 👉 Free one-page Edition 4 guide: https://gasengineersoftware.co.uk/blog/igem-up-1b-edition-4-changes-calculating-installation-volume/ 👉 Installation Volume Calculator:https://gasengineersoftware.co.uk/resources/gas-installation-volume-calculator/

Most gas engineers have no exit plan. They work until their body gives out, close the doors, and walk away from something that could have been worth real money. Steve Hall spent 50 years building SMH Gas Specialist and made sure that didn't happen to him. In this episode, he and his son Mark explain why you should be thinking about your exit at least 5-10 years out, what your customer base is actually worth, and what to do if your body gives out before your retirement plan is ready.

There's a faster way to grow a heating business than hiring one engineer and hoping it all works out. Three years into running Phoenix Gas Home Care as a sole trader, he acquired the customer base of another local gas business, brought their engineers over, and used it to fundamentally change the shape of his company overnight. It's not something you hear about often in the trades, but in this episode he explains how it actually worked, what he'd do differently, and why more engineers should be thinking about it.

Most engineers have strong opinions about their flue gas analyser. Very few have thought about what it looks like from the manufacturer's side. Kieran Carter is an account manager at Anton by Crowcon, the team behind Sprint Pro, and he speaks to engineers every day. In this episode, he covers how engineers actually choose their analyser, the features most people don't know they have, how engineer feedback shapes what gets built next, and where FGA technology is heading in the next few years. 

Brent Songhurst joined the British Army at 16, did demolitions and bridge building in Africa, and left at 24 with a mortgage, a child, and a plan to go self-employed. Six weeks later JJS Gas and Heating was in business. Nearly 11 years on he's running a team of 6 with his sights set on 7 figures. This episode covers the whole journey, what the early days actually looked like, the moment he decided to grow beyond sole trader, how he's built his team, and the ceiling he's working to break through next. 

There is more to this trade than airing cupboards and boiler swaps. Daisy Turner went halfway around the world with a handful of tools, a language barrier, and the same plumbing principles she uses every day, and left a village in Nepal with clean running water for the first time. This episode covers the project in full, what it did for the community, and why Daisy thinks every engineer should be thinking beyond their day job. The opportunities are out there if you just put your name in the hat. https://www.ciphe.org.uk/professional/careers--trainees/PlumbingProfessionalDvelopmentScheme/ https://plumberscompany.org.uk/

Solicitors and dentists don't discount their rates to win customers. So why are gas engineers constantly undercutting each other? Dean Jones has built his business by refusing to race to the bottom, and in this episode he explains why lowering your prices doesn't solve the problem, what it does to your reputation long-term, and how engineers end up busy but broke without ever realising why.

Her headteacher called her into the office and told her she was too smart to do construction. She became a plumber anyway, and went on to win national competitions, volunteer in Nepal, become a brand ambassador and a UK board director, all while holding down a full-time apprenticeship. Daisy Turner joins Tulloch to talk about what getting into the trade actually looks like in 2026, and why the apprenticeship system needs a serious rethink. #GasEngineerPodcast #GasEngineerSoftware #PlumbingApprentice #WomenInTrades #Apprenticeship #HeatingEngineer #PlumbingAndHeating #TradeVsUniversity #WomenInConstruction