Stuart Mealing is a freelance contractor with 25 years’ experience of design and substantiation of high integrity control and instrumentation systems in the nuclear power and rail industries. Stuart is also a member of PCG, the association that represents the interests of freelance contractors and consultants. In this interview with PCG he shares his experience of going it alone.
PCG: Why did you opt for the independent route?
SM: When you work for yourself you have a greater feeling of control over your own destiny. I see each day as one that might present opportunities – and that is a real motivating factor.
PCG: How does this translate into benefits for your clients?
SM: The satisfaction instils a great sense of pride in the work that I do. My business’s reputation depends directly on the technical quality of what is delivered – you’re only as good as your last job – therefore I always deliver to the highest standards. A lot of the larger procuring organisations tend to have this desire to stick with the devil they know – the larger established companies. I think that they should open their eyes a little more to independent contractors, who can provide the flexibility to help their clients be more competitive.
PCG: What do you find most challenging?
SM: I have to make sure that I don’t bite off more than I can chew, taking on work that I can’t deliver against. Conversely, it’s important to keep enough in the forward order book. When there’s enough work coming in and you can manage it, it’s not stressful, but if it goes too far in either direction it can get quite stressful –you learn to strike the right balance.
PCG: What advice would you give other engineers thinking about setting up as freelance consultants?
SM: If you’ve got confidence in your own abilities; if you’ve got the drive and the desire to strike out on your own, and if you’ve got the commitment to put the extra effort in – because it’s not like being an employee of another company – if you’ve got those attributes, then I’d say “What are you waiting for?”. You get an immense sense of achievement when you work for yourself. I could not
countenance going back into salaried employment.
PCG: You have been a very active member of PCG for many years. Why do you continue to support the association?
SM: PCG provided me with the advice and the tools to develop my business to where it is now. I would say it was through my membership of PCG that around 2002 I changed my entire mentality, my way of thinking about working. PCG has helped me to take a more business-focused approach to what I do and how I do it. If PCG wasn’t around, that support wouldn’t be there, that advice wouldn’t be there and I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today. It was also through PCG that I managed to obtain a fully UKAS accredited ISO9001 certification for my business, which is mandatory for many of the contracts my business tenders for. The PCG scheme saved my business thousands of pounds – there’s nothing else like it on the market.
Finally, let’s not forget the importance of PCG’s political lobbying. PCG is an organisation that stands up for small businesses, provides protection for small businesses and provides very, very sound advice and that’s why I would always stay a member.
