B-DACS was founded on 7th August 2003 by Brian Drummond, who had previously been running the air conditioning division of Livingston contractor Morton Mechanical Services. Originally operating from a home office in Mount Vernon, with his wife Diane managing the financials, Brian created the name B-DACS from Brian Drummond Air Conditioning Services, giving him a platform to build a scalable business.
Over the first few years, B-DACS grew rapidly, recruiting our first engineers, gaining excellent feedback from customers and winning installation contracts with notable clients, including Prometric Test Centres and branches of NatWest bank.
In Autumn 2007, B-DACS was contracted to install a Mitsubishi Electric VRF system as part of major renovation works at 145 St Vincent Street, a nine-storey neo-classical office building in Glasgow city centre. The size and technical complexity of the project meant it was a major milestone for B-DACS.
By 2008, B-DACS was in demand for more major projects, with three air conditioning engineers, each with their own liveried vehicle. However, the economic crisis then hit, causing the construction industry to contract by around 17% in the UK< with devastating effects for everyone working in it.
Numerous companies were folding, further reducing the amount of work available, and B-DACS was forced to temporarily reduce the working week to three days until things started to pick up. This instilled confidence in our staff, showing that we would do what we could to secure their jobs.
It took around a year before B-DACS started to see a sustained increase in the number of contracts coming in, but by October 2011, the company had recovered strongly and moved into a dedicated office in Panorama Business Village in the East End of Glasgow.
Linzi, Brian and Diane’s daughter, joined B-DACS as Office Manager, providing the support that was needed to manage the expanding business. Diane formally joined the business as a full-time director in August 2012, using her 15 years’ experience with Lloyds Banking Group to enhance our management processes and develop a long-term business strategy.
With Brian, Diane and Linzi all integral to the company, B-DACS’ family values and ethos have strengthened the foundations of the business. ‘As we grow,’ Diane said at the time, ‘we need to ensure all our employees feel valued and respected, and we will continue to listen to our customers as they are at the heart of everything we do.’
In 2015, B-DACS won Glasgow’s Best Performing Business (11-50 Employees) at the Glasgow Business Awards. This recognised the improvements to management process taking place behind the scenes, as we achieved ISO 9001:2008 accreditation – recently recommended for certification to ISO 9001:2015 – and won a Mentorsme.co.uk award.
B-DACS has also continued to grow a reputation within the industry, becoming one of only two companies in Scotland to achieve the status of Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Quality Partner, in addition to Daikin D1, Toshiba T7 accreditations and Constructionline Gold accreditation. B-DACS was also the first company in Scotland to install a cutting edge R32 system.
As a family business, we believe strongly in nurturing our staff, delivering an exceptional service for our customers and maintaining close ties with our community. We celebrated our 15th year of trading in August 2018.