“Business as usual... the story so far”

Introduction On the 7th May 2015 T. M. Browne Ltd celebrates 30 successful years in business. The journey from husband and wife team to a limited company employing more than 50 people with an annual turnover of more than 8.5 million has not been an easy one – it wasn’t a linear progression. Like all businesses, T. M. Browne Ltd has encountered its share of ups and downs. However, because there have always been strong family bonds within the company and many of the workforce have been recruited from extended family and family friends, the growth of the business has been reassuring and steady. Traditional values of good workmanship, pride in a job well done and an emphasis on training and apprenticeships, have developed a dedicated workforce. Proof of this is the fact that sons and daughters of current and past employees, are now working at T. M. Browne Ltd and it is hoped that this will continue for future generations. Continuous employment has resulted in a consistently loyal team who take on challenges of day to day building and maintenance work, knowing they are supported by an equally rigorous and professional senior level of managers. More importantly, in overall charge of the organisation, is a fair and dedicated family unit who they can rely on to look after them and to steer a sure and dependable course into the future.

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 3 The family in 1990 outside the office/house. The Browne family in 2015 outside the current offices.

Page 4 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Background Information Timothy Michael Browne was born in in 1960 and brought up in a semi detached council house by Michael Browne ‘Bridge worker for Council’ and Josephine Browne ‘worked on the land and was also a typist and school cook’. Tim has four sisters. Julie Diane Browne nee Howling was born in in 1959 and brought up in a tied farm cottage by Churdy Howling ‘farmhand’ and Annie Howling ‘land-worker’. Julie is an only child.

Jo and Mike Browne ‘Churdy’ and Annie Howling.

Tim and Julie would like to dedicate this book to their parents – Mike and Jo Browne and Churdy and Annie Howling whom without their support over the years, their achievements to date would not have been possible. Annie passed away in 1990 & ‘Churdy’ in 2001.

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 5 A message from the boss... Most companies celebrate 25 years of being in business, which we did informally in house, but we have decided to celebrate 30 years in business and share it with people who have influenced the business during this time. I went into Darren’s office and said “what about a china mug as a celebratory gift for customers and employees”. His reply was along the lines of “that’s not the best idea you have ever had, what about a book”? “No chance!” was my reply, but he and Mark Draper convinced me it was a good idea. So we put together a sub committee of Darren, Julie, Becky, Mark Draper, Sue Callaby and Michael Little and we hope we have produced an interesting read. I think that this has possibly been one of the hardest things we as a family have taken on. The one thing I was adamant about was that I did not want the book to be corporate or promotional but I wanted it to tell the story of a very young couple who took the chance of starting their own business. The story of a young man who loved his job as a plumber of which he was very thankful to R G Carters. I did not for one minute think running a business would be the emotional roller- Becky’s only choice of spending time with her coaster it turned out to be. When starting this journey, if someone had told me dad to get ‘out on the tools’. that in thirty years time I would be running a business turning over between £7.5/8.5 million, I would have said not in a million years! We, over the years, have worked very hard to get where we are today and have had our share of good and bad luck. We have worked on the land chopping sugar beet, picking potatoes, driving tractors and strawberry picking and we even used to clean at a pub in Tilney St Lawrence to make ends meet. One thing Julie and I have always done is work together (with me being the boss most of the time of course). Joking aside if anyone ever asks me how we did what we did, my answer would always be that every man needs a supportive wife by his side, and I was very lucky as Julie never really disagreed with my decision making and she Tim following Health and safety to the letter

Page 6 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 would never moan about the hours I worked nor the numerous amount of times I was late for meals or family occasions, as she knew I would never purposely be late. When people have asked me if I have any regrets my reply has always been the same. “Just one and that’s that I never spent as much time with my children as I wished I had, especially Becky, as for the first few years of her life I spent most of my time on the phone and being at work”. As you read this book I hope you will see that we are very thankful to friends, family, workmates and customers who have supported us and those who have advised us in the past. I was once told “you will spend your life making many acquaintances but gaining very few friends”. Fortunately I found the complete opposite was true and I feel we have made many more friends than acquaintances, recent and long lasting. Although it is impossible for us to mention everyone who helped Julie and I along the way, I speak on behalf of us both when I say you are never far from Times were hard and it took a while before Tim our thoughts and your help, advice, custom and friendship really is sincerely could afford a larger bucket! appreciated. Family and friends have played a huge part in this business and will continue to do so. The future for T. M. Browne Ltd is looking good with Darren taking over the Managing Director’s role this year. I feel that he and the management team we have in place can drive the business forward in the coming years.

Tim.

Tim proudly poses in front of his first sign written vehicle.

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 7 A message from the real boss… Tim and I met when he was 17 and I was 18, me being one year and two weeks older than him. He takes pleasure in telling everyone that. We got married three years later, on June 27th 1981, and we moved in with my parents. Ten months later Rebecca arrived. We were offered a council house at 16 Long Road and moved in the September of 1981. In October 1984 I found out I was pregnant with Darren, and in the December we were offered the chance to buy our council house; the discount was our deposit so our mortgage payments were not much more than our rent would be. More and more people kept asking Tim if he would do jobs for them, and at the time the Government was encouraging people to go self-employed. We talked about it and went to see Julie Browne. Tim’s grandad who wasn’t too keen on Tim taking the risk, but said ‘if that’s what you want to do then do it’. We decided to go for it and Tony Wilson, who had a business in the village, recommended an accountant named Paul Stebbings. Paul explained everything we needed to do and his colleague, Brian Clements, gave me some lessons in book keeping which was very scary as mathematics was never my strong point. On May 7th 1985 the business commenced. Tim had his friend, Andrew Dowe, make a trailer to fit behind his car and off he went to work. I used to take phone calls, write out bills and anything else that was needed. Two months later Darren arrived. Tim was still busy doing jobs and trying not to let anyone down. He physically couldn’t do any more hours and he hardly had time to see the children. Life was busy at home with a baby and a 3 year old whilst also trying to learn accounts. We decided to take on a YTS boy, his name was Mark Rowe. The work still kept coming in, call outs in the middle of the night and still working the next day, but in September 1986 on my Mum and Dad’s 30th Wedding Anniversary, the work took its toll. Tim came home from work, had a shower and collapsed in the bathroom, breaking his leg in 2 places. He had an operation, was in plaster for 26 weeks and had 42 weeks off work. Our parents helped all they could with the children and with food gifts, but the work was still coming in. Tim contacted my cousin, Michael Howling, and asked him if he would like to join us; Tim would go out in the back of Michael’s van with his leg sticking out, so he could teach Michael plumbing installations etc. It was a very tough time for us as we only had sickness benefit for 26 weeks, then invalidity benefit up to the 42 weeks. But we had never been used to having spare money or going out much so we never thought of it as a hardship. We carried on and once Tim got working again we seemed to get ourselves round. We bought a van and progressed. Tim’s sister, Jennie, and at a later date, Zoey Lucas, both came and helped for a while typing the bills. Once the children were off to school my day started until they came home, and then once they were in bed I’d be back doing paperwork. Becky came home from school one day and said ‘mum can you help at school with reading as they want mums who don’t have a job’!. I was proud as I wanted my children to think I was able to be a mum without work interfering. David Bullingham then joined us to undertake the quoting, as the nights when Tim and I used to sit up at the table doing it had to come to an end. Having more customers resulted in more sub contractors and working in the house got a bit much so we converted the shed in the back yard into an office. Work increased and we had less and less time to do things as a family.

Page 8 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 In 1990 my mum died suddenly at the age of 54. I was devastated, my whole world fell apart. I was trying to help my dad with his grief, keep my children in as much a normal house as possible, although our house wasn’t normal, the phone was always ringing, workmen in the house early in the mornings and night times, and me helping Tim with the business. My dad came to live with us and we had an extension built on the house so that he could have a bedroom of his own. By this time paperwork was getting too much for hand written accounts so my friend Gwen put me in contact with a computer man, Paul Frammingham, who is also an accountant. Paul taught me how to do accounts on the computer, which was very hard. I would go to bed thinking about computers and get up thinking about computers. I found it really stressful as I didn’t think I would ever understand it, but with Paul Frammingham’s patience I mastered it and I think it was a very big step in our business. Paul is still working with us today. Sunday was Tim’s only day off, and we would go out as a family but still end up doing a few jobs on the way.

Liz Scales, a family friend, came to work for us for a while to help type invoices but Becky and Julie. was soon offered employment at the hospital which she accepted, but she would still type bills in the evenings. Many a night when we were in bed, we would hear Liz leaving after midnight. This obviously got too much and Liz suggested her sister-in-law Sue Callaby could take over her role, and she started in September 1995. We had the opportunity, after sadly our neighbour passed away, to buy the house next door, 15 Long Road, which we did. We rented out the house for a couple of years and then, due to never having any privacy in our own home and the fact that the business was growing, we decided to move the office into No.15. One year rolled into another, we became busier with housing association and pub work, more vans were needed and more people were needed. In 2000 my dad was diagnosed with cancer. I nursed him through his illness but it wasn’t easy with everything else still to be done. Sadly on 11th July 2001 he died. I was devastated but had to carry on, which I think made me stronger than I ever thought I could be. Darren became an apprentice that year and the business was still growing so we knew we had to move our business to larger premises, and it was important to stay in Terrington. Julie and Darren.

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 9 One day our friend Hank told us there was a possibility that The Old Pea Mill on Market Lane had come up for sale and before we knew it, it was ours and gone were the days of ‘working from home’. Since being at The Mill the business has grown and grown with a few bumps along the way. We now employ a large workforce but it still seems a very family orientated business which is what we want. Tim has still got school friends and their sons working with us and we are very close to them all. Darren bought 15 Long Road and now lives there with his wife Grace. Becky and her husband Graham only live 5 minutes away from us with our three beautiful granddaughters. It’s lovely having them all so close. Many people ask us how a husband and wife work together as we do, we don’t always agree but like Tim says, you can only have one boss and I think he means him! I have supported Tim throughout this journey as we have had to make a lot of big decisions between us. I am proud that Becky and Darren are working in the business. I hope my children understand that there have been sacrifices in their childhood and that their dad and I worked hard for our family. I ‘Churdy’ Howling outside the offices at No. 16 Long Road, Terrington St Clement. hope that Darren can carry on building the business his way for the future. I don’t have any regrets, I would have liked us to have done more things as a family, but you can’t have everything and now, hopefully, we can enjoy many more family times together. I would like to say a very big thank you to all the people who have supported us over the years and made our business what it is today.

Julie

Page 10 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 With regard to moving to The Mill, “We used to have an account for Market Lane - “It’s like having a diesel at ‘Loomes’ garage and “T. M. Browne staff were part of handbag - the bigger the handbag ‘Burts’ in Terrington. We were the Pleasant Court community in the more you fill it!” allowed £8 diesel per week to King’s Lynn - elderly ladies invited cover an area which stretched as us in for tea! We were well known Julie. far as !” and often the residents would Michael Howling leave keys with neighbours so we could let ourselves into their flats. One day a man tried to contact his mum. He was banging on her “Following the gales in 1987 our door because he couldn’t get his phones were ringing off the wall. mum to answer the door. I put a Tim was at the forefront of the ladder up to her window and saw repairs, going round all our pubs her laying on the kitchen floor. “I needed a typewriter so we repairing the damage.” Then Terry Empson broke the door bought one second hand. We down and let us in! Terry also ran John Tubby drove over to to pick into one of the flats to rescue a it up” says Julie. “It was not new girl from a fire and ended up in but the resulting documents were hospital suffering the effects of certainly an improvement on the smoke inhalation. Nothing was too hand written bills we were used much trouble for the Tim Browne to.” team then or now.” “Tim phoned me and said, what’s Julie Browne. Michael Howling. this I hear about you being made redundant - I’ve got just the job for you, come and work with me. And that’s how I started working with Tim and Julie in 1993.” David Bullingham “There can’t be one supplier who “Whenever you spoke to anybody isnt really grateful that Julie is in about Tim Browne and the work the chair, she makes sure that all that he did, they were always our suppliers are paid on time - saying about how good it was and she’s a tremendous asset.” how courteous the staff were.” Tom Laird Tom Laird

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 11 Family photos...

Page 12 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Family photos...

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 13 First Employees After several months Tim and Julie decided they needed help and decided to take on an apprentice. They contacted the college who arranged for Mark Rowe to attend an interview. Mark was only 17 years old when his dad brought him to see them. “He stood in our kitchen with his Dad and every question Tim or I asked him his Dad would answer for him”, said Julie. “I remember he didn’t say a word throughout his entire interview, and in fact I don’t think he uttered a word to me for the first two years of his employment—that’s not how we do things these days.” Thirty years on and Mark is still an important member of T. M. Browne Ltd.

Mark Rowe Shortly after Mark Rowe was employed, Tim broke his leg. He’d been overdoing things, working all hours to make the new business work, and collapsed through exhaustion, causing him to break his leg in two places. He spent the next few months with a plaster cast and crutches while he ran the business from a bed in his front room. Almost coincidentally, Tim had called another plumber, Michael Howling, (Julie’s cousin) the day before he broke his leg to ask if Michael wanted to work with him. Tim saw the level of work increasing and needed to either call it a day or get help. Michael immediately started and Tim decided that broken leg or not he too would be going with him. Tim would ride in the back of the van to site so that his leg could remain elevated and he would direct from there, or would carry out work from the floor under sinks and baths etc. Never one to miss an opportunity, when Tim was asked to carry out building maintenance work, he employed a family friend John Hammond AKA ‘Budgie’ who was multi-skilled. John worked for the company for over 20 years, and he and his family still remain very good friends. Michael’s account I used to work with Tim all the time in the early days and I’ll never forget the time when we were in the basement of The Globe Hotel, King’s Lynn. Tim had his leg in plaster and one of the feeds to a radiator was leaking. Tim said if we drained the radiators and pipes and turned everything off we’d be there for a week (there were many rooms above us and they were obviously linked into the same heating system), so Tim decided to hit head on! He took some black bin liners from his bag and said “now wrap my cast up so that it is waterproof.” Once this was done he grabbed a plastic waste bin and put it next to the radiator pipe. He said “Michael, I’m going to cut the pipe, and you have to get straight in and seal it off….. Then we’ll do the other end”. Tim cut through the pipe and just as we knew it would, water poured from the severed feed into the bin. I sealed the end, then we turned to the other which by this time had also started to spurt water. Eventually everything was under control and we’d managed to avert a major heating crisis. Michael Howling

Page 14 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Mark Desborough In the first years of his employment Mark was mostly involved in the larger Enterprise Inns projects starting with The Queen Victoria pub in late in 2005. “There were a lot of fire damage restorations in the first years with T. M. Browne Ltd like ‘The Turnstone’ which was in 2006 and ‘The Old Anchor Inn’, in Fearing near Colchester which we started in July 2008, 3-4 months after the fire. It usually took this long to get everything approved and get permission to start work” recounts Mark. “It was while I was handing this one over to their surveyors on site that I got a call to say that ‘The Sugar Hut’ was on fire. This was a big one for us!” Just after the Sugar Hut project started ‘The Chequers’ in Bressingham burned down… this is where we found some 16th Mark Desborough. century remains and 2nd world war ammunition… life is anything but dull when you work for Tim”! Applying modern building technology to historic buildings which are over 500 years old is certainly challenging. We learned a lot from working with the historic buildings consultant on this one and even now people come to us for advice on similar projects. Tom Laird Tom Laird first became introduced at a business dinner. He was introduced to Tim as someone who may be able to help him develop his business and that’s exactly what happened. In fact Tom was one of the instigators of the move from No. 15 Long Road to The Mill premises where T. M. Browne Ltd is now based. “The people who work for Tim and Julie are the mainstay, they are the important factor which drives the success. At one time I was aware that the teams dealing with housing association tenants (our clients’ clients if you like) knew more about the families they had to deal with than our customers did!” “Sometimes the housing association would ask us about what was happening Tom Laird. ‘on the ground’ because they had so much faith in the way our guys worked.” “Tim has become an excellent autocratic democrat over the period of time I’ve known him” said Tom. He’s developed in so many ways over the past 10 years into a real Managing Director. He’s able to delegate and to stand back enough to allow his family and staff to develop their own strategies, something which is essential in a growing commercial enterprise like T. M. Browne Ltd.

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 15 Moving forward with Social Housing Whilst Tim was still hobbling about with a broken leg, he received a phone call from Bob Leathers at Housing Association. They provided Public Sector Housing with more than 4000 properties. These obviously required building maintenance. “Tim, can you help us out of a muddle?” asked Bob Leathers. Tim explained that he no longer worked for R. G. Carter. Bob told him that one of the properties at Pleasant Court, King’s Lynn, had water coming through the roof and it needed urgent attention. Bob had tried to contact the current contractor (R. G. Carter) but couldn’t get a response. Tim told Bob not to panic and had someone there within 10 minutes. This level of service continued for the next 20 years, with staff from T. M. Browne carrying out general building maintenance and providing a 24 hour call-out service. Throughout this time workmen and office staff built up a great rapport with both Broadland Housing Association staff and it’s tenants. We were regular visitors to Pleasant Court, St Katherine’s Court and Estuary Close, of which many of our employees still have great memories. There are many examples of similar stories, not just with Broadland Housing Association but also Minster Housing, Hanover, Flagship, Circle and many other Housing Associations that we came to work for through our growing reputation.

Page 16 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Top left - Windsor Road, Pleasant Court & Hospital Mews, King’s Lynn (Broadland Housing). Top right - Lynwood Estate, (Circle Housing), centre - Estuary Close, King’s Lynn (Broadland Housing). Bottom left - Minster Court, King’s Lynn (Minster Housing) - bottom right - Hanover Gardens, Hunstanton (Hanover Housing).

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 17 Our break into the Commercial Sector Although Social Housing was a huge part of the business, it certainly wasn’t the only part. We still had the approach of ‘no job too big or too small’ and carried out many jobs for private customers and local businesses, but an ever growing workload was coming in from various different pub companies. This was down to Tim’s growing reputation within the industry and his involvement in ‘one off’ jobs. Tim’s first ever pub job was for Brewery and thereafter Grand Metropolitan Estates who had subsidiaries of Berni Inns, Spring Pub Co and Phoenix Pub Co who later amalgamated into Unique Pub Co which is now owned by Enterprise Inns. He also worked for Brent Walker Pub Co, who became Pubmaster and is now Punch Taverns. Along the way he also picked up work from Admiral Taverns and a local brewery by the name of Elgoods. Tim gained some great acquaintances over the years who became very influential throughout the company’s journey, two of which were David Bullingham and John Tubby, who not only came to work with T. M. Browne Ltd to help with the ever increasing growth in pub work, but also became, and still are, very good friends. The Park View project consisted of a four floor building (including basement rooms) which TMB converted into 39 luxury apartments for Nelson Restorations Ltd. Some of the apartments have stunning views over St. James’ Park in King’s Lynn. In February, on clearing the site, it was revealed that some of the structure was in a dangerous condition. On making safe, work began in earnest to get the project on schedule. T.M. Browne employed 25 tradesmen on the site (including subcontractors). Becky Robinson (Browne) administered the site together with Joe Royall, overall site agent, and Steven Ewing, site foreman.

Page 18 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015

Work hard...

Page 20 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Party HARDER!

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 21 Sue Callaby (PA to the Directors) Sue Callaby joined T.M Browne in July 1995 taking over from her sister-in-law, Liz Scales. Sue at this point had just finished childminding and was taking a much needed break before deciding what to do next. She remembers Tim asking her one morning on the way to a junior football match (their sons used to play together) whether she would be interested in working for him, and for some reason, she does not know why, thought he was joking! She decided to accept, but although having always worked in offices, had never even touched a computer; the last machine she had worked on was an electronic typewriter eleven years previously before finishing work to start a family. Sue started shadowing Liz in the office for a few days here and there before Sue Callaby officially starting in the September. She remembers being on the phone to Paul Frammingham (the computer programmer) almost constantly in the early days with one problem or another. These were in the days of the office being the portacabin at No. 16 Long Road, working with Tim, Julie and David Bullingham, the surveyor. The office was often a fog of thick smoke due to Tim and Paul Frammingham smoking at the time! To begin with the work involved mainly invoicing, which gradually increased to typing quotes, filing, answering the phone, booking in jobs and carrying out other general office duties. The phone was always ringing and there were a lot of deliveries to be signed for. Sue initially worked two mornings a week, gradually increasing to five days over the years. These were in the days of, amongst many others, working for Broadland Housing Association, and Sue remembers coming back from a week’s holiday to a box about a foot deep with invoices to be typed. The portacabin was gradually extended over the next few years and Sue remembers one day working with a dust mask on whilst the wall was being knocked through! After a few years the office moved next door to No. 15 Long Road where Julie and Sue used to work in the front room and David and Tim worked in what was the dining room, with the filing room being upstairs in one of the bedrooms. In May 2006 the office moved to it’s current premises at The Mill. Sue was promoted to P.A. to the directors in 2007

Sue Callaby.

Page 22 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Michael Little (Divisional Manager) Michael`s relationship with the Browne family began as a child when he used to play around the house, yard and in the offices. Darren, Michael and Sue`s son James went to school together and would often meet at Darren’s to play. Much time was spent playing on lawnmowers, Go Karts and playing offices. They would mess about phoning each other’s desks and pretending to be customers, “pretty much what we do nowadays actually” Michael recalls. The three pals where inseparable. Following school, Michael went to sixth form at and then spent time in Spain. When he returned, he spent a couple of weeks attending jobs with Darren whilst looking for work. Following Darren`s advice, he took a job as an Apprentice electrician manufacturing control panels. Michael Little After a couple of years, Tim had heard from Darren that Michael wasn’t happy where he was and offered him a job as an apprentice electrician. “Tim told me he never poaches people from other firms but he thought this was different as I was Darrens mate” Michael said. Michael began work with T.M.Browne Ltd and after a couple of years took his testing qualification. A while later he was off sick for an extended period. Tim offered him a temporary position in the office to help out with test sheets while he recovered. From then on he became Assistant Electrical Manager and progressed accordingly. “Every aspect of my life has had some involvement from the Browne family. Tim and Darren have been such a massive influence on me. Darren is my best friend and is godfather to both my children. He has been there at every low point to help and every high point to celebrate. They are all part of my family and the way they all care and help, makes you fiercely loyal.” lt’s a family affair The Clare Family and The Browne family have always had a close bond. Tim used to go to school and live in the same village as Jeremy and Daren, so often they spent time together as children. When Tim first started out plumbing, he would, on many occasions work with Daren and Jeremy, for their father Noel, who was also in the building trade, a time of which Tim has many fond memories. When Noel started to slow down his working life, Tim had had his own business for some years and Jeremy and Daren then came to work for him. On Saturdays their sons Scott and Dean would come along to work with them at 16 Long Road, cutting the grass, sweeping up and Left to right - Jeremy, Dean, Scott, and Daren. having a go on whatever machinery they could get their hands on!! It was no surprise when they left school that they too would come to work for Tim full time. “The relationship between us all is amazing, with each of us always looking out for each other” said Tim.

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 23 “if I went away on holiday for a “I always tried to do things right “I first met Tim when he came week I came back to a box (1ft and I always wanted to be the to the College in Kings Lynn deep) full of invoices that needed best at what I did. At Carters we as a plumbing apprentice with to be typed - I’m not kidding” no did very little heating work as it R.G.Carter. He was always chance for lunch just constantly was mostly lead plumbing. We interested to learn and take in all typing all day long.” also laid floor tiles, installed cast that he could. Like most young Sue Callaby. iron drainage and repaired roofs. students he liked to have a laugh I gained a distinction in the C&G and joke but unlike some, knew heating qualification when I was where the line was drawn and at college because I knew I had would not abuse my trust. so little practical experience and I When he left college I kept in “Bringing Michael in at this point had to try really really hard. There touch with him and followed his was very important. I think if we was more heating work to be had, progress. He eventually left R.G. hadn’t done that I would have oil was becoming more popular Carter and set up in business and had to fold the business. We and gas was asked for more and decided to take on a YTS student would’ve lost those customers more. I also joined the Institute to give work experience. Others we had because I couldn’t do the of Plumbers which was a very followed and some of them still work and those are the ones that big moment for me - I felt proud work for him today. became really important clients in - I became an associate of the During one of our many the years to come”. Institute of Plumbers (1987).” conversations when his phone was Tim. Tim. constantly ringing and I asked him if he ever got fed up with the calls he said “No I always feel it is nice to help people when they have a problem.” It is this approach which “Over the last 22 years I have been has probably enabled Tim to run “When we moved to new offices in working with TM Browne who his business so successfully over Market Lane... one of the highlights have provided maintenance and the past 30 years and I am pleased for me was to try to get Tim to contracting services for housing and find it very satisfying to see have an office on his own” association properties that I have him running a successful business had responsibility to manage. Tim and passing on his knowledge and Tom Laird. and Julie have not only developed skills to future generations. the business but the people and it is Incidently Tim does not appear to those people that have ensured that have changed greatly in stature or the business has developed while nature since his student days and retaining those family connections whenever I see him nowadays we and ethos.” still have the same banter as we Colin Davison, Director of Property, did then.” Freebridge Community Housing. John Draper.

Page 24 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Statistics...

Miles covered April 2014 to March 2015 Fuel costs 2010 - 2014

250000

100000 phones 94356 89895 vehicles 86331 89308 87747 49 200000 8598684587 employees 80000 81125 82478 81634 61 computers 76545 iPads £243,850 66589 150000 £225,025 £222,753

60000 £217,916

32 100000 £180,870 40000

72 50000 20000 26 0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 0 JUL-14 FEB-15 JAN-15 SEP-14 OCT-14 JUN-14 APR-14 MAY-14 DEC-14 NOV-14 AUG-14 MAR-15

1600 Jobs completed Turnover 2003 to 2014 2010 2011

£8000000 1400 2012 2013

£7000000 2014 1200 2015

£6000000 1000 £5000000

£4000000 800

£3000000 600

£2000000 400 £1000000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 200

0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 25 A message from Becky From the moment it was decided that we were going to write a book to mark the 30th Anniversary, I immediately started to reminisce. I have so many memories of people, places, jobs, parties, vans, days out, you name it I had a memory of it! But what I really struggled with, was trying to separate my childhood memories from memories of TM Browne, but I soon realised, there was no separation! That I had no memories that T. M. Browne Ltd wasn’t a part of. My earliest memories I think are of the landline! The house phone was always ringing, Mum always jotting down names, numbers, addresses etc., or there would always be someone knocking at the door, asking if dad could go and look at a job. Eventually there was an office Becky Robinson built off the kitchen but the office door was never shut! It was a stone’s throw from the kitchen table. Me and Darren would sit at the table for breakfast and more often than not workmen would be there, it would be the same before tea time, the drive would fill up with vans and before you knew it the kitchen/office would be bursting at the seams! I assume it was a very busy time, I say that because out of all the memories I have from age 3-9 I’m struggling to find Dad in them! I don’t think he took me to school, or picked me up, there wasn’t any bed time stories or trips to the park, and don’t get me wrong I’m not painting a picture of a father who did nothing with his children, just of a father who sacrificed time with his family to work hard, so we could have a great future. So, whilst Dad was out working The office door led off our kitchen! all hours, where was Mum? Well, she was at home, doing all the things behind the scenes running a home, looking after me and Darren, manning the phones, keeping on top of the paperwork and finances and making sure everything was OK for all of us, including Dad. Nanny Annie and Grandad Churdy (Mums Mum ‘n Dad) would call in most nights about 4 O’clock, I think it was probably as much to try and break Mum’s day up a bit and to see us grandchildren, sometimes me and Darren would go home with them for a little while, which I assume would give Mum a chance to get on with the ever growing list of jobs she had to do! Sadly my Nanny Annie died when I was nine years old, as you can imagine the impact this had on us all was indescribable

Page 26 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 and even to this day I find it difficult to talk about. It is around this time that Dad starts to come up in my memories, I think that’s probably because it’s the first time I’d really seen any emotion from him and I think this was probably the first time he had to play the role of “daddy” as my Mum was obviously going through what was the worst time of her life. Looking back at this time in our lives it makes me realise just how much of a strong, brave woman my Mum really is. She was only 30 at the time of losing her mum and somehow (I really don’t know how!) she managed to carry on, not only did she have her own grief to deal with in a home that had such very little privacy, but she also had all of us and Grandad, who had now come to live with us, to look after too. Somehow, she made the days after that seem normal for us (I’m sure she felt very different inside) but we still had tea cooked, the phone still rang, workmen still invaded the kitchen/office every day, and it was ‘business as usual’. The office eventually moved from in the kitchen all the way to over the other side of the drive!! The office was a mixture of portacabin, garden shed and stock room! The office stayed there for about ten years. The business was clearly growing, I could see this, because as I sat in the conservatory, the driveway and yard would become a complete traffic jam of vans and workmen trying to get in and out all at the same time!!! Oh and another sign that it was growing was that tea time was moved from dead on 5 to the slightly later time of 5.30!! (and still most nights we had guests!)

By this time I was at secondary school, it had been drummed One of the portacabins in the drive of No. 16 Long Road. into me from a very early age that school was important, not necessarily that being the brightest was important but certainly that behaviour and working your hardest was important. Dad was very big on showing us that you HAD to work hard, to earn money to get the lifestyle you wanted, so much so that from the age of 14 he lined me up a Saturday job at Belmont Nurseries, wrapping tulips on piece-work for 2p a bunch! Thanks Dad!! From then onwards I always had a job. When I left school I went to college and did a receptionist course (it was no shock that Dad wasn’t very supportive) but nevertheless I did what I wanted and went anyway (a trait I get from my Dad!). During this time my Grandad Churdy had become ill with cancer, my Mum cared for him at home, supporting him with his every need, our home no longer had workmen in and out morning and night as it had moved next door to No. 15, but now we had nurses, and visitors. All the time my Mum cared for him she still worked. Grandad died in 2001, and this event would yet again show the strength of my Mum. She looked after us all before herself and again before we knew it was ‘business as usual’.

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 27 The office was now busier than ever, more people were working on site, more vans were coming down the drive (albeit the drive next door!) and tea was now at 6pm! I went to work for Dad for a while, once my college course had finished, and in between waiting for my other college course to start, one day Kevin Britton (a very familiar face throughout my childhood) came in to the office and asked me what I was planning on doing in the future, I explained I was waiting to go to college to do a course when Dad bellowed through the hatch it’s a F****** waste of F****** time! Or something along those lines! I think I then said a few choice words back (very quickly!) and its never been quite resolved as to whether I was sacked that day or whether I quit!!! Needless to say, I went and found another job elsewhere and knocked the course on the head! I really enjoyed my new job at ACR and was thrilled when they offered me a promotion, unfortunately though, the pay stayed the same! I spoke to Dad about it (just like I do with pretty much any decision I make……even now! Ha Ha) and he said, I should go in there and tell them that unless they could give me a pay rise I would have to leave and find another job! So, off I went all geared up with Dad’s speech in my head, and once I’d delivered my speech I was told that there was no chance of a pay rise, so with my tail between my legs, I stuck to my word, and left. It all became clear though as time went on, that Dad knew that this is what would happen, and as usual, Mr Browne got his way and I was back in the T. M. Browne office the following week…….. and I’m still not sure I ended up with a pay rise! My role was working full time organising the day to day jobs for the men, mainly for Broadland Housing Association, the company and its staff were very familiar to me……they were the main cause of all those phone calls!! In 2002 I fell pregnant with my first child, Annie, I carried on working and Sarah, a good friend of mine who I’d known from childhood, came to work alongside me to learn my role, ready for when I reduced my hours. I think when I became a parent I really started to appreciate what Mum and Dad had achieved for us and I think this was the time when me and my parents became closer. Especially with my Dad. Working together in the Becky, Sarah and Kayleigh. office had certainly shown me that we were ‘two peas in a pod’. We started to agree on things (this was a very rare occurrence during the teenage years!) and on many occasions it would be me and Dad versus Mum and Darren and because I was at work it meant that I actually got to see him! And the more I saw him, the more I realised, I actually liked him!! Ha ha. In 2006 my second daughter Casey was born, I had a few months off work this time while T. M. Browne Ltd were preparing

Page 28 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 for what would be there biggest move yet…….this time, all the way to the other side of the village!!!! The Mill, Market Lane, and it was shortly after that another close friend, Kayleigh, also came to work for us. T M Browne Ltd then took on a major project, which was the renovation of Park View, the biggest job the company had embarked on yet, and I was shocked to say the least when dad informed me I was going to work on a building site!!! I may have had to wear a hard hat, steel toe cap boots and a high vis, but I wasn’t totally out of my comfort zone as I was still tucked away in the on site office... when I say office, I actually felt like I’d gone backwards by a decade, this office wasn’t a patch on the portacabin/garden shed/stock room!!! My role, still part time, was to keep on top of the paper work , such as the hours different trades were working and the invoices coming in. This job was mainly worked on by sub contractors that we hadn’t used before due to the type of job it was, and it was important to have someone representing the company on site when Dad couldn’t be. Once Park View came to an end over a year later, it was time to go back to the unit. It was strange, my new role was typing up electrical test certificates, and I think it was at this time when I felt a bit detached from the business. So much had changed whilst I’d been at Park View, procedures were different, clients were different and the jobs were different, and obviously the premisies were different. In 2010, after my third daughter, Elsa was born, I made the decision, with the support of my husband Graham, that it was time to become a ‘stay at home Mum’. I was off work for a few years, then in October 2013 Dad asked me if I could pop in and help Dean for a few hours a week until Xmas, inevitably 2 years later, I’m still helping Dean catch up, and I couldn’t be happier being back. T M Browne Ltd has taught me so many invaluable life lessons, and I want to take this opportunity to express my absolute gratitude to my parents for taking that risk in 1985 to build a future for myself and Darren. I may not have fully appreciated it when I was younger but looking back on my childhood I wouldn’t change that busy, crazy, non stop phone ringing, work orientated life that we led, for all the tea in china!!!!

Becky.

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 29

A Message from Darren Being born the same year as T. M. Browne was created, set the benchmark that it was always going to be a massive part of my life and it has not disappointed. I’m not the best for remembering my childhood or having as much to say, as Becky did most of the talking for me for the first 15 odd years Darren Browne to be honest. Dad had just started this new chapter in his life and had to work extremely hard all hours just for us to have food on the table and electric in the meter (50p piece if I remember correctly?) He had to do this day in and day Learning to drive - no driving school car for Darren! out just to keep afloat. It wasn’t until I was around eight years old I could really start to help. I remember Dad teaching me to drive in our yard and when the workmen were finished for the day I would fill the vans with diesel or park them up ready for the next day. I suppose I was having more fun than helping but nevertheless I felt I was doing my bit. I was always an outdoor and busy kid, and if I wasn’t in the yard messing about with the vans I would be out with my Grandad either in his lorry carting sugar beet or cutting every elderly person’s grass in Terrington. When I was 13 Mum would collect both me and my sister from school and take us straight down the farm for potato picking. Up and down the fields we would go which would feel Darren spent a lot of time helping his grandad ‘Churdy’ cart sugar beet in his lorry.

Page 32 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 like forever, but I never minded really, as I knew once we had finished I would get to ride in the tractor and people who know me will understand how exciting this was for me. The weekend I turned 14 I started working for T. M. Browne Ltd and every Saturday Michael Howling used to pick me up at 7am and off we would go to work (via McDonald’s of course) I did this for two years and when I left school I started working as a plumber but after doing it solidly for a few weeks I soon realised it wasn’t for me! I spent weeks and weeks worrying how I was going to tell this to Dad and tell him that I wanted to be an electrician but I eventually plucked up the courage and asked Jason Barber our Electrical Manager to do it instead – much easier (good early delegation skills). Dad took the news very well and I think if I’m honest was probably glad I had made a decision for myself and I’d decided on the career I actually wanted. I think it was always a part of Dad’s major plan for either Becky or I to come into the business in some way, but whatever way it was, he made Darren started learning the ropes at an early age! sure we worked for it, and it was clear that I was just another worker and I was treated no better than anyone else. Dad had always made it clear from the outset you have to gain people’s trust and respect - so I spent the next 5 years working as an electrician and working my way up to the role of Electrical Manager which was more down to the fact that I had to take it on as the role of our existing Manager (Jason) had left to further his career on his own. I think the first major change came for me was when we received the news that we had lost the Broadland Contract. That particular Friday evening in the office when the news landed, was something I had never felt before and in my head that was the end, but NO, Dad just turned round and said “oh well never mind, see you all Monday”. Undoubtedly this must have hit him hard as he had spent the best part of 20 years putting blood, sweat and tears into servicing this contract and BANG…. just like that it was all gone, but he just didn’t show it, and sure enough Monday morning it was ‘business as usual’. Without realising I think this is when I really started getting involved with the whole business as we had taken on a large project at Park View Hotel in King’s Lynn, which was in 2006/07. Dad spent a lot of time running around so I was found doing lots of other bits in the business and we soon took on a new Electrical Manager and I had become Assistant General Manager, having very little to do with electrical and was much more involved in the building and business side of T. M. Browne. Since Park View T. M. Browne have gone from strength to strength and I think we realised that there was a lot more to our business than just Broadland and a couple of pub companies. It was at this point we started working for a variety of other companies. Eight years on from Park View things are very different and we are now back to having a very large involvement in both the public and private sectors (Housing Associations and Public Houses).

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 33 The relationship between me and my Mum, and me and my Dad was always very different. My Mum was always there as my shoulder to cry on and the person I would speak to about any troubles. Mum has always kept my feet flat to the floor and worried endlessly about Becky and me. The relationship I had with my Dad was always more work related and in some aspects still is, but the trust and friendship we have as a father and son and as a whole family is unreal, as we all support each other in everything we do. I am now stepping up into Dad’s shoes and taking T. M. Browne Ltd forward. I have many things on my side at this crucial point in my life. I have a very supportive wife, and I have the Management Team in place who are a complete rock to me, and work as though T. M. Browne is their own. Most importantly of course I still have Mum and Dad by my side to run any decisions past when I require that extra bit of support. Throughout my life every decision I have ever made has had the input of Mum and Dad, probably most of the time without them knowing it. I always think to myself what would they do or what would they say, and it’s a trait that hopefully will stay with me as whilst I have as much respect for them as I do I know that T. M. Browne will continue to strive forward and be here in another 30 years time. I will never stop trying to make them proud. To be continued… 2045.

Darren.

Page 34 T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 The family finally able to spend time together enjoying themselves. Tenerife 2015

T. M. Browne Limited, commemorating 30 years of successful business - May 2015 Page 35 In memory of those who are no longer with us.

David Cox

Mark Littlewood

Colin Hansell

Mervyn Mann www.tmbrowne-ltd.co.uk