A 24-year-old man has been named as a plumbing group’s youngest ever franchise owner
Harry Thompson, of Newark, has launched Metro Plumb Nottingham, part of a national network of domestic and commercial plumbing specialists, in February.
The business covers Newark, Burton-on-Trent, Ashbourne, West Bridgford, Mansfield and surrounding areas.
Harry attended the Sir William Robertson Academy in Lincoln and completed an apprenticeship in plumbing at Grantham College.
After completing his apprenticeship, he gained experience working for plumbing companies in the area before joining the Metro Rod and Metro Plumb network of franchisees, working for Metro Rod in Lincolnshire and Peterborough.
“I have always wanted to be my own boss and Metro Plumb has offered me the opportunity to achieve this,” said Harry.
He added: “I can see that there is a huge shortage of tradespeople and there will always be a need for plumbers.
“As well as developing my own clients locally, I am fed work through from national and regional accounts and this has enabled me to hit the ground running.”
In the future, Harry is hoping to build up his Nottingham-area business and take on a couple of plumbers, which will allow him to grow his firm and build a team that can be deployed to meet the needs of customers across Nottingham and surrounding areas.
Services offered include dealing with emergencies and carrying out repairs as well as installing showers and appliances.
He added: “One of my first call outs was to a domestic customer with a flooded house from a leak. To be able to quickly find the problem and fix it is a great feeling.
“I guess that job was quite easy for me as the problem was pretty obvious. It’s not always like that and I love a challenge – and the bonus is that no two days are the same.”
According to a report by UK Trade Skills Index 2023, the demand for plumbers is set to soar with more than 70,000 new plumbers needed by 2032.
He said: “There is a massive shortage of plumbers as well as other tradespeople across the country.
“It’s well illustrated by my experience with my fellow students. Of the 200 at my school, only four or five of us went into the trade. It’s a shame.”
