We are extremely proud to announce that Stuart Woodward from Laker and HomeServe Walsall & Sutton has been crowned a regional winner in the West Midlands category at the 2017 Heating Installer Awards, which celebrate the unsung heroes of the UK’s heating industry.
Stuart, will now compete against nine other regional winners in a bid to be crowned the country’s best heating engineer, with the result being determined by an online public vote.
Stuart said: “I’m over the moon to be named as one of the UK’s best heating engineers. The recognition is really humbling personally, but as a team we’re encouraged to go the extra mile and I know every single member of our team is doing their best every single day.
“Back in December, I’d taken a call from a homeowner in need of some help with his central heating. As I was talking to him I became aware that he was visually impaired and having terrible problems using the manual thermostat on his boiler.
“It was clear that he needed a better way to control the temperature in his home over the winter and he told me that he’d already spoken with some other heating firms to see if they could help him and they’d all turned him away. I was determined to help him find an answer and so I took it away and started to explore whether any of the smart thermostat devices we offer could help make life easier for a blind Customer.”
Laker and HomeServe Walsall & Sutton are approved NEST installers – one of just a handful in the UK – and Stuart investigated whether this particular model of smart thermostat could be the answer to the Customer’s problems.
“I liaised with the team at NEST and discovered that the system has in-built voice-activation capabilities and these are compatible with tablet and mobile devices,” added Stuart.
“By using this functionality, we knew we could set up the thermostat to be completely accessible for visually impaired people. The Customer was absolutely delighted when I called him back to let him know and we arranged an installation date to ensure we got the device up and running as soon as possible.”
The NEST was installed just a few days later and engineers from HomeServe Walsall & Sutton spent time with the Customer to show him how to control the device from his iPad.
Stuart beat off competition from hundreds of other applicants to be named the West Midlands winner with judges scoring each entry against four criteria: technicality, professionalism, expert service and happy customers.
In naming the regional winners, judges looked for engineers that showed a desire to go to great lengths in order to deliver incredible levels of service for their customers, and the use of innovative solutions that improve the quality of life of families and businesses across the UK.
Stuart is an employee for Laker and HomeServe Walsall & Sutton as part of a UK-wide network of HomeServe-branded franchise businesses being operated by HomeServe Connect – a dedicated installations business set up by leading UK home assistance firm, HomeServe.
Laker Managing Director James Lakey commented ‘we are extremely proud that Stuart has been recognised for his commitment to customer service and his achievement as a Gas Engineer. We wish him the very best of luck in the national finals and encourage everyone to vote!’
Public votes are being accepted up until 9pm on 30 April online here: http://heatinginstallerawards.co.uk/finalists/ The winners will be announced in May 2017.
