TWO MINUTES WITH… IRB Heating

Who are you?

Name: Ian Briggs
Company name: I.R.B Heating
Age (you don’t have to tell us): Level 3

All in a day’s work

How long have you been involved in heating and plumbing?
Wow, it’s been a while now, I started out on my apprenticeship when I was 17 and completed four years at college to gain NVQ Level 2 & 3. After that I sat and passed my gas at 21, spent a year as an “improver” then was fully unleashed upon the world. I worked for the same firm (Claydon Heating) until 2011, when I set up my own company. How time flies when you’re having fun!

The trade is in my family though, my grandad (Bob) was a builder and my other grandad (David, aka Grumps) a plumber, my dad (Richard) plumbed for a while before moving onto electrical motors and my uncle (Peter) is a plumber. We now help each other out as and when, which is nice. So you could say it was inevitable.

If you wanted a short answer, 15 years!

Is there one invention you believe could change the industry forever?
This could be a new tool, digital paperwork, a change in gas regulations and how we continually develop our knowledge and skills, a change in the apprenticeship scheme to make it easier for employers to take on an apprentice, a new fuel to work with, or it could be something as simple as social media, which has already given us a platform to discuss all these important topics.

Quickfire

Tea or coffee?
Ahhhh, coffee…

Winter or summer?
Summer. EVERY. TIME.