ASH Integrated Services has used an integrated fleet and workforce management software from BigChange to build a multi-million-pound business in less than 5 years. ASH offers a range of services under the mechanical and electrical contracting umbrella including routine maintenance and project work as well as facilities management and renewable schemes.

Using BigChange, ASH manages a team of more than 50 from its headquarters in Manchester. Working across the UK, the company has expanded its workforce by more than 400 percent since it started, and is predicting a turnover of more than £7 million this financial year.

BigChange plans and allocates around 100 jobs a day and using a mobile app, with field staff are guided through a customised workflow to ensure compliance with all relevant health and safety regulations before accessing job specific worksheets and site histories. Vehicles are live-tracked and whilst onsite the app allows additional information to be captured, including date, time, and location stamped photographs and customer signatures. The engineer can record additional works or order required parts.

Established by entrepreneur Antony Grace, together with business partners Sean and Howard Jackson, ASH addressed a gap in the market for an integrated mechanical and electrical contractor. The company has contracts with Lancashire County Council, Punch Pubs, and Staycity aparthotels, and working with Lovett Care Homes, ASH was also awarded overall winner at the 2023 Premises and Facilities Management Awards.

“We started the company because customers needed us,” commented Antony Grace, Director of ASH Integrated Services. “Although I had worked with Sean and Howard on an ad-hoc basis before, the process of multiple contractors and different invoices wasn’t what the market wanted. So, we came up with the idea of joining forces – one company, offering a range of services.

“And we haven’t looked back! Within a year we had landed a major contract with Lancashire County Council and we still look after more than 300 of their schools, care homes, and offices.”

It was at this point that ASH started looking for a job management system. Having reviewed several options ASH decided on BigChange which incorporates a mobile workforce app, customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, financial management, and business intelligence tools in one system. Unlike other systems on the market at that time, ASH describe BigChange as an ‘easy solution’ – the software is easy to use, easy to integrate, and didn’t require a huge upfront investment.

“We knew that to deliver on this massive contract, we needed a system to manage the detail – such as site addresses, contact information, and asset histories,” Grace continued. “Unlike other systems on the market we didn’t have to buy into BigChange, we simply paid for the number of licences we needed. The system delivered all the functionality we needed and as we have evolved it has evolved with us and as we have grown, we’ve simply upped our user numbers – almost ‘Pay as You Grow’.”

“With BigChange it isn’t about how much more we can achieve and how we are more efficient, it’s simply that without it we couldn’t operate at this scale,” concluded Grace. “BigChange gives us the ability and capacity to deliver on our promises and allows us to capture, record, and share auditable data to prove compliance and work completed.

“Without BigChange I estimate that we would need at least another 10 to 15 back-office staff just to maintain our current operation and, as we are predicting a 100 percent growth in the next five years, that resource is simply not sustainable.”