Plumbing Africa November 2018 | Page 54

52 FEATURES 1980s “We were able to grow the business collectively through great people. We had our people failures and challenges like anyone else, but continued to develop and build on each other,” Burgess says. November 2018 Volume 24 I Number 9 and once I had qualified, Chris approached me and said, ‘Listen, why don’t we form a partnership?’,” he says, fondly recalling those pioneering early days. “I understood that we needed to retain the services of gifted plumbers, and also knew we couldn’t handle everything ourselves, so we started offering mini partnerships in various areas, which plumbers were happy to accept, as it was easier than going out on their own to start their own business — as was the norm when people qualified,” says Burgess. The new business model led to a change in name and so Burgess and Partners was truly born. www.plumbingafrica.co.za