Star Power’s newest business development manager, Darryn Hornblower, is impressed by the company’s can-do attitude to service, and he says customers are giving him just the same feedback.
Darryn has worked in and around the temporary power generation industry for three decades, so he brings a huge amount of knowledge and experience to his role.
His assessment of Star Power after several months in the business? Refreshing.
Adapt to needs
“There’s a can-do approach to service throughout Star Power, from the delivery drivers to the senior team,” he says. “It’s refreshing and it’s how I like to do business.
“Our aim is to adapt to the customer’s needs, not expect them to fit in with ours. That means supplying the right type and size of generator needed, so power risks are minimised, along with costs.
“Having our own fleet of 4-by-4 vehicles and trailers to access hard-to-reach sites is also a big plus. We’re also investing significantly in battery and solar power systems to make our temporary power solutions as sustainable as they can be.”
Darryn looks after customers in East Anglia, via Star Power’s Thetford depot, and across the South East, through the Kent Depot, in Tonbridge.
The Anglia depot delivers temporary and critical generators across Norfolk, Suffolk, North Essex and into the East Midlands counties of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Befordshire and Northamptonshire.
The Kent depot, meanwhile, is ideally placed to serve customers in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, South Essex and across East London.
Respected by customers
It is a big patch for Darryn to cover. But Star Power’s digital customer support systems – strengthened by the opening, near Dunstable, Bedfordshire, of a joint HQ with sister company Star Platforms – helps keep operations running smoothly.
Star Power’s partnership with JCB Generators is also a proving a big hit with customers, thanks to the ultra-modern temporary and critical power units being delivered to depots across the UK, including Kent and Anglia.
Darryn says: “JCB is a world class brand which is respected by our customers. It helps, also, that the company’s generators genuinely meet those high expectations in terms of quality and performance.
“Many of our construction clients already use a lot of JCB equipment, so taking a JCB power generator is a natural extension. Also JCB’s after-sales support for its generators is the best I have ever experienced.”
That includes delivering new generators directly to our customer sites, if that helps meet service deadlines, and highly effective remote monitoring and site maintenance support.
Net zero ambitions
Darryn says: “JCB’s LiveLink telematics system is so good, we often know about a maintenance issue, and can respond to it, before the customer does. It supports Star Power’s proactive approach perfectly.”
Both Star Power and JCB are committed to being at the cutting edge of low-emissions technology, which means Star Power can supply the latest Stage V generators to support working in low-emissions zones and help meet its customers’ net zero ambitions.
The capability and capacity this relationship delivers, along with Star Power’s ‘can-do’ spirit is winning over new customers all the time.
For example, in recent weeks, the Anglia depot responded to an urgent request to provide a generators to support engineers tasked with repairing a gas main under pressure near Kings Lynn, Norfolk.
The customer had assessed it needed a 100kVA generator. However, the Anglia depot team was able to supply a 30kVA JCB generator, supported by a 90kVA battery pack, reducing the hire cost.
Excited by potential
As the job was due to last for 40 weeks, it added up to a considerable saving. What is more, the call came in on the Friday, and the generator was installed and ready to go the following Tuesday.
The growing team based at Star Power’s Kent depot is also winning plaudits.
It has just supplied 25 generators to the Isle of Wight festival, and most of those will then go on to deliver temporary power at the Silverstone British Grand Prix.
Darryn says he is “excited” by Star Power’s potential: “There is a lot of opportunity for growth and what’s great is that we’re striving to deliver service the right way, with lots of technology but also lots of personal service.”