Episode Transcript
Jenny: Hi. I’m Jenny Thain, part of the Primary Markets team at the London Stock Exchange. I’m here today as part our Be Inspired series in the beautiful Cotswolds, with Brusk Korkmaz, CEO and Founder of Hercules Site Services, PLC. Brusk, thank you so much for having us today. Let’s start from the very beginning. You founded the business in 2008. You came to market earlier this year with a market cap of nearly 30 million. Where did it all begin?
Brusk: Working as a civil engineer, I spotted a gap in the market for a forward-thinking labour supply company operating in the infrastructure sector. All the companies I came across in the past were offering nothing different, set in their ways and very old fashioned. So I thought it was time for a positive change.
I started the business in the family’s spare bedroom by borrowing £10,000 from my parents. My son was born and then I ended up moving to our garage as he was getting too loud. Then we moved into our shared offices, and we ended up purchasing our land and building our own offices where we are currently working at the moment. Since then, 14 years later, we have got our labour supply division, our suction excavator division, civil engineering division and our Hercules digital division, with over 600 people working with us. So we are really proud.
Jenny: Fantastic. And from those days of being in the garage, being in the spare bedroom, was an IPO always the end goal?
Brusk: IPO wasn’t definitely part of the plan, and if you asked me this question 14 years ago, I would have probably laughed at it. We believe, as a fast-growing company, floating on the AIM market should take us to the next level of growth. We’ve got really ambitious and bold plans to push us further to be the go-to company in the labour supply sector. We have got multiple cross-selling opportunities with our additional construction services. This should bring extra revenue generation. So very exciting times ahead of us.
Jenny: Fantastic. How was the process? Trying to run an IPO as well as actually keep the business going, how was that for you as a leader?
Brusk: I am very lucky to be surrounded by an amazing senior leadership team who work together to manage the day-to-day running of the business. I worked on the process with our CFO, our board of directors and our advisors, who have got amazing experience in previous successful IPOs. It was hard work to start with. It was a bit of a juggling sort of process for us. But everyone has been fantastic. We all work together. For me, the main two key points were teamwork and strong communication. And after working through this one-and-a-bit-year period, we made it in the end to the IPO. So it was definitely worth it.
Jenny: Absolutely. And you guys seem to be doing a great job. It feels like, here in the office, there’s a fantastic culture, which hopefully the IPO has just supported. It’s early days, but what’s life like as a public company? And is there anything that keeps you up at night?
Brusk: First and foremost, away from the AIM, the main thing which keeps me up at night is ensuring that our workforce gets home safe and well every day, back to their families. This is the most important thing.
We’ve got a very strong and very capable team, and it helps me to focus on steering the business into new ground, such as exploring acquisition opportunities. It is very exciting for us, but at the same time, it is very new. There is no doubt that there will be challenges that come with it, but we are ready for them. Obviously, my main focus is for Hercules to continue performing at the highest level to bring the most value and the most benefit for our investors.
Jenny: And very much I can feel your energy and your excitement, and the culture here in the office seems fantastic. Everyone seems really, really at home. It’s a pleasure to be part of it for today. I guess, what does the next five years look…? You’ve set a fantastic foundation. You’re now public. What does the next five years bring? And what does being public, what’s the IPO enable you to bring into, as part of that strategy?
Brusk: Being listed on the market brings lots of opportunities, and it’s a new chapter for us. The next five years will bring exciting challenges as we are continuing to grow. This is through acquisitions, our future plans as well as a £650 billion investment that is committed by the government in the infrastructure sector. So our forecasts are looking really good. Our aim is to provide local jobs for local people, and we are already doing this by using our digital labs. This also creates positive social value within the communities that we are working.
Jenny: Fantastic. It’s so interesting to hear how technology is being applied to a range of sectors. So can you tell us a bit more about the app?
Brusk: Of course. Normally, construction recruitment is really traditional and people phone up the offices to register themselves. But after five o’clock, there is no one there to answer the phone for them to be registered. This app that we provide, it’s called Construction Jobs. And people can use this. They can register themselves anytime they like. And they can upload their qualifications, their personal data, and we match them to the local jobs close to themselves, which is amazing.
Jenny: It sounds like that really helps you to stand out as well in front of your… With your competitors.
Brusk: Of course it is very unique, and there isn’t anything like this done as well. And the second app that we developed is our HR onboarding app, which helps complete the process of workers getting to jobs.
Jenny: And, of course, there’s a very well-publicised skill shortage in the UK at the moment. Is that providing you challenges? How are you tackling that?
Brusk: There is a massive challenge in the UK with regards to the skill shortage, but we have got very exciting plans, exciting growth plans with regards to investing in our training centres so we can upskill and cross-skill our own workforce internally. And we also would like to monetise this opportunity as well. This will all obviously help to tackle the well-publicised skill shortage in the UK.
Jenny: Great. So you’re clearly investing in people, and that’s fantastic to hear about the training. What about other things that you were able to invest in and grow as a result of the IPO?
Brusk: After the IPO, when we looked at our current suction excavator fleet, which we should have 20 by November, we are doing really well and there’s a massive demand to it. So we decided to order ten more, which they will be arriving from January till March next year, which is amazing because we will have one of the biggest fleets in the UK. And also, we have some acquisition opportunities as well coming up. Obviously, the public will hear it later on.
Jenny: Brilliant. Okay. And I don’t think we can’t talk about ESG. It’s becoming more and more of a focus whether you be public or private. How have you at Hercules looked to tackle that?
Brusk: We have a very incredibly diverse workforce, onsite and in our head office. We have got 25 different nationalities working with us, and as you can imagine, they bring different thoughts and different opinions about how to do things. And listening to these diverse opinions helps us to make the right decision and helps us to solve the problems really effectively.
Having a skill shortage in the UK, it made us look at the different areas for employing people with different backgrounds. Just to give a quick example, most of our suction excavator operators are from ex-military backgrounds, which is great because they turn up on time, they are amazingly skilful and they are brilliant people to work with.
Jenny: Brilliant. And I suppose we can’t talk about diversity without talking about gender diversity. I’ve seen in your office that you’ve got a fantastic mix of men and women. What about onsite? That must be a challenge?
Brusk: It is a challenge, but it is going in the right direction. Just to give an example, this week, we have got our first female suction excavator operator starting with us. She also is ex-military as well, and we are really looking forward to working with her.
Jenny: Brilliant. Now, let’s get personal. What is your driver when it comes to business? What drives Brusk?
Brusk: I normally have a positive mindset to most of the things, whether this is starting a new business or competing in an Iron Man challenge. My key drivers are my family, my wife and my children, and it pushes me continually to work harder and aim higher.
Jenny: Oh, it’s really lovely to hear that your family are such a big part. I can see there’s some artwork from them around the room here in your office, which is great. What about in the business world? Who inspires you there?
Brusk: I always considered Hercules to be a disruptive brand in an old-fashioned market, like Richard Branson, how he started with the Virgin Group and changed industries. Having a business which thinks outside the box gets me really, really excited. And so I can get up every morning to go to work, it’s important.
That’s fantastic, and what a great place to end the interview. Brusk, thank you so much for having us here today and being part of our Be Inspired series.
Brusk: Thank you, Jenny.
