Sewer specialists is one of region’s biggest success storie

Jun 11 2008 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

Alistair Houghton meets Cleanline UK’s managing director, Gary McDermott

WHEN Welsh songstress Duffy sang about Rockferry, she doubtless wasn’t thinking about a visit to a sewer cleaning specialist.

But if she had headed around the corner from the Merseyrail station that inspired her song, she might have been able to find songwriting inspiration from one of Wirral’s latest business success stories – Cleanline UK.

The Rock Ferry company was founded five years ago by managing director Gary McDermott to specialise in drainage maintenance and surveying, and has become one of the region’s largest players in its field, with more than 100 employees.

Cleanline’s bright yellow and blue vans, many of which carry the words “working on behalf of United Utilities”, are becoming an increasingly common site on the region’s roads.

That partnership with the utilities company, through construction giant Morgan Est, explains the company’s rapid rise and continued growth plans.

Cleanline may not be a household name – though it can be called out for domestic drainage emergencies – but the chances are that, if you’ve called United Utilities to report a drainage problem, then it was a Cleanline van that came to solve it.

Wirral-born and bred McDermott puts his company’s growth down to the strength of its partnership with Morgan Est and United Utilities – and says the reputation it has won for its quality of work means more contracts will keep heading its way.

He said: “We’ve grown with the contracts we’ve won. It’s about delivering a service.

“Companies like Morgan Est are looking for competent contractors who can give a good service and give back-up. We’re a big team that delivers those contracts.

“They’ve given us bigger contracts. When we first started, we didn’t have the Liverpool contract. We had Wirral, Crewe and Nantwich.

“Because we did a good job, they gave us Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens. It’s just grown because we’ve delivered.

“Cleanline has got to the stage where it’s probably one of the biggest drainage contractors in the North West, thanks to the size and field of the services we offer and the range of equipment and skills we have.”

Turnover now stands at £5m, and McDermott says he is budgeting next year for turnover of up to £6.5m.

He says his entrepreneurial streak stems from his parents’ retail businesses, where he worked in his teens.

His own first business, which he sold eight years ago, focused on the manufacturing and distribution of licensed football memorabilia.

Next, McDermott spent three years in the drain cleaning and maintenance industry, working for drainage contractors Bagnall and Morris and Drainforce.

After learning the industry ropes, he decided he wanted to get back to running his own business, and founded Cleanline.

“I’ve always been entrepreneurial,” he said. “I found that working for a company wasn’t challenging enough, so decided to start my own company again. There was room in the market.”

McDermott raised a funding package, including investment from himself, the bank and the Government’s Small Firms Guarantee Scheme, and started Cleanline with seven staff.

Turnover in that first year reached £420,000, as the company won contracts with local construction and civil engineering firms.

In its second year, Cleanline began to make headway by winning utilities contracts, with turnover almost doubling as a result.

TWO years after it was founded, Cleanline and McDermott had started working with Morgan Est and United Utilities and adopted the utilities focus they have today.

Morgan Est is United Utilities’ main waste water subcontractor in the North-West, looking after the sewerage network. In turn, it sub-contracts work to Cleanline.

The Wirral company now works as far afield as Preston and Crewe, and is looking to grow still further.

Cleanline’s client list includes such big names as Alfred McAlpine, Redrow Homes, Railtrack and local councils, but some 80% of its work is for Morgan Est and United Utilities.

Its services include high-pressure water jet cleaning, CCTV surveys of drains, relining sewers and excavating problem drains,

As well as its ongoing maintenance work, Cleanline gets between 600 and 800 “reactive calls” every month to respond to emergencies.

“There might be a part of United Utilities’ network where blockages are recurring,” said McDermott. “They’ll send us to solve the problem.

“We find out what the problem is – it might be a collapsed sewer or an obstacle. Then we’ll look at whether we can relieve it or patch it or even dig the sewer.”

McDermott wants to expand the company still further by working with other water companies, from Severn Trent to Yorkshire Water and beyond.

He also feels Cleanline can win more work with Morgan Est, building on its existing partnership with the firm.

Any expansion outside the North-West would mean Cleanline opening more depots. The company’s rapid growth means even its current home is now too small for its needs.

“We moved to this site 18 months ago and have currently run out of space,” said McDermott.

The economic slowdown since the credit crunch has had its impact on Cleanline, as on so many businesses. But McDermott says his company’s focus on utilities means it is set to stay as busy as ever.

He said: “We’re finding in construction and civil engineering that it’s fairly quiet.

“But, at the end of the day, the sewer network has got to be maintained and got to be repaired. We’ve got to make sure it keeps running.

“The likes of United Utilities are spending a tremendous amount of money on waste water.”

alistairhoughton