#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. 🦁🔥 https://www.facebook.com/groups/offthetools/