#12 From British Gas to Buying a Rival 🔥 Lee Davis’ Relentless Rise in the Trades

This episode is a masterclass in what’s possible when a tradesman stops playing small. 💥 Wayne and Andy sit down with Lee Davis , founder of Innovative Heating Services , to unpack his full journey — from 17 years at British Gas , to starting with just one van and a mate , surviving COVID with zero government support , making every mistake in the book… and then finally buying out a local competitor and becoming one of the biggest heating companies in his area . 🏆 This isn’t theory. This is the real trenches. Inside this episode: 🧰 17 years at British Gas → Why Lee finally took the leap into business 😬 Starting with nothing but a van, a mate & a mobile number 🦠 How COVID nearly crushed the business — and how he survived anyway 📉 Working insane hours for less than minimum wage in the early days 📞 Running everything through WhatsApp, paper job sheets & chaos 💸 The shock of the real cost of employing engineers (NI, vans, tools, merchant bills) ⚠️ The “Success Trap” — looking busy, but making no real profit 🧠 Joining Off The Tools & the mindset shift that changed everything 📊 Moving to proper job management software + Xero 💷 Doubling prices and learning to charge without guilt 📵 The power of getting off the phone and using a VA 🏢 Opening a showroom and hiring his first real office manager 🧾 Why receipts, bookkeeping & real reporting changed his profit overnight 🔁 Dropping bathrooms, builders & low-value work 🔥 Moving into boilers only and scaling installs from 20 a year to nearly 80 🏗️ The bold move: buying a rival gas fire & heating company 🚀 Instantly doubling vans, engineers, apprentices & market share 👩‍💼 Now running multiple engineers, office staff, service plans & automations 🎯 The 2026 target: more engineers, more office staff, more expansion And most importantly… 💬 Lee breaks down exactly what he would do differently if he started again today — including systems, pricing, mindset, accountants, software, staff and community. This episode is for you if: you’re stuck in survival mode 😮‍💨 you’re busy but broke 💸 you’re scared to hire 😬 you feel trapped answering every call 📞 you want a business that runs without you 🧑‍💼 you want something to sell one day 🏦 Lee proves this: 👉 You don’t need to be special. 👉 You don’t need investors. 👉 You don’t need luck. 👉 You need systems, pricing, mindset & the right people around you . 💬 Want help building your business properly? Visit offthetools.co.uk and book a free chat with Wayne or Andy. Or jump into the Off The Tools Facebook community and get around people who are actually doing it. 🦁🔥

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#12 From British Gas to Buying a Rival 🔥 Lee Davis’ Relentless Rise in the Trades is an episode from Off The Tools by Wayne Bettess.

This episode is 01:12:41 long.

This episode was published on Feb 4, 2026.

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