FRIDAY the 5th of April and finally a decent day comes along when I met up with one of those guys who must work in the very worst of all weathers to get a job done . Marc Beardsley is the owner and force behind Airedale Fencing – one of Yorkshire ’ s leading fencing contractors . Based in Eccleshill Bradford , Airedale Fencing coveri the whole of the West , North and South Yorkshire . However , they have done job ’ s as far away as Bournemouth before now .

Marc has spent more than 30 years in the fencing trade , trained on the job by his entrepreneurial father Brian , who as well as having a fencing business was also a property developer and builder . Marc very quickly learnt and became extremely adept at all aspects of the fencing business , effectively running that side of the business along with his sister Nicola who runs most of the administration side . This was a partnership that worked extremely well , as Lo and behold who runs the office at Airedale along with Marc ? Yes you guessed it Nicola . Nicola is invaluable as Marc does all the site visit work and still

likes to spend time “ on the tools ” although his three permanent gangs might have a slightly different view .

Marc ’ s skill is without question as there are many fencing business ’ s in the area where the current owners were trained by and employed as part of Marc ’ s gangs . Right now , Airedale has 3 full time gangs with 2 sub contract gangs they can call on ( both fully trained by Marc as it happens ).

Another claim to fame is that Marc was the guy who installed a mile of security fencing around the old Mintex Factory site in Bradford prior to the redevelopment .

Once upon a time Airedale had 10 gangs on the go which is a major task to keep on top of . Marc took the decision to reduce the number of gangs to both ease his workload and allow him time to spend “ On the tools ” which was just not possible when he had so many .

With such a long track record of success in a very competitive market place I asked Marc what his secret was . “ Quality , getting the job done in a timely fashion and at the right price ” Marc ’ s first port of call is always quality

– he will not let any of his team loose on a job until they are fully competent , so not only does he train everyone rigorously he will take time in looking for reliable committed staff , which in this day and age isn ’ t easy . Thankfully recruitment is a rare occurrence as most of the Airedale guys have been there for 10 years plus .

Everyone at Airedale is a team player , something I could sense when I turned up for the interview and was greeted by the team I ’ d come to photograph who were there even before Marc , with a

cup of tea at the ready . All the teams are prepared to not only start at the crack of dawn and work late but also put in weekends if the job dictates .

The range of Airedale ’ s work is wide from all types of Agricultural work to full commercial installations and domestic when required . Alongside all the fencing they do they have a comprehensive service for all gates from wooden to fully automated steel gates and barriers

There ’ s always a wide variety of jobs , everything from 10 ’ s of

metres of livestock fencing to post and rail Paddock ’ s through to 3-metre-high prison mesh that they installed around all of Yorkshire water ’ s depots . They have a full range of all the latest equipment which means they can work on the toughest sites from bleak hills and mountainsides to brownfield and full construction sites . The teams love those challenges of awkward , cramped sites and tough terrain . However , the odd level ground simple job in bright sunshine doesn ’ t go amiss occasionally .

When I asked about significant challenges , Marc thought for a moment and concluded “ Most jobs offer varying challenges its down to knowledge , and application of your skills to ensure the job is done right ”. “ However , it ’ s not all plain sailing , most utility pipes these days are plastic , so they are not as easy to locate as the old ones , so it ’ s down to the feel of the ground , how it moves and familiar clunk ” “ One Friday night years ago we were completing the final post on a job and bang we hit a water pipe ! Oops no early Friday finish ”.

I asked Marc about the future . They have just gone limited , moved into new premises and are planning to close their old yard to build one at the new site . “ Maintaining our high standards of staff and workmanship is paramount and our strong reputation ”

Well certainly with Marc and the Airedale team , if you have Livestock or premises to secure you can rest assured on a job well done !