Charlie Mullins

Background

Charlie decided at the age of nine that he wanted to be a plumber, after noticing that his local plumber was well respected, had a great lifestyle and money. So, he took to ‘bunking off’ school to earn ‘two bob a day’ working with the local plumber.

After leaving school at 15 with no qualifications ( he always says that was a big mistake, he should have left at 14! ) and completing a four year apprenticeship in plumbing Charlie started out with a second hand van and a bag of tools. In 1979 he started Pimlico Plumbers from a basement of an estate agent in Pimlico.

“I had a vision to change the stigma of the plumbing industry i.e plumbers who turn up late, driving rusty old vans, not wearing uniform, arse's hanging out their trousers, bad workmanship and ripping off the customer."

Character

With a passion to be the best at everything he has always set his sights high in life and business and uses a common sense approach.

He's very direct, opinionated, controversial and has a no-nonsense, black and white attitude. He doesn't sit on the fence, is a quick decision maker and promptly puts plans into action. His dislikes include meetings, negative attitudes, bully tactics and laziness.

Whatever he does he is 100% committed to it and is a strong believer in "the more you put into something the more you get out."

“The way I run my business isn't rocket science it's common sense. The only problem is that common sense ain't that common."

Hands-on Role

He's very much involved with the day-to-day running of the business and keeps his finger on the button. He has had in place for many years a clearly defined management structure that he has 100% confidence in.

His exacting standards and determination ensure that Pimlico’s second to none quality customer service is withheld right across the company. "We always endeavor to provide the highest levels of customer care & satisfaction, our reputation is important."

At the core of his philosophy is to keep things simple; to do the right job, at the right price, at the right time for the customer. And he says it's important to know that "We're all drinking out of the same teapot."

The company work on the basis that once a customer uses Pimlico we hope they become a "Pimlico customer for life."

Helping Young People

With a passionate for youth training he is strongly focused on apprenticeships and is a firm believer in giving young people a chance to develop their skills, in order that they reach their true potential.

He works closely with the Government, i.e George Osborne, Boris Johnson and Chris Grayling who have all been very supportive in helping young people into training.

The Pimlico Apprenticeship Scheme that he developed has been put forward to the Government as he believes they should implement this scheme across the country as he says it will cut youth unemployment by 50%. This plan turns Jobseekers Allowance into a Job Achievers Incentive, i.e the Government pays the employer the Job Achievers Incentive to use as part of a minimum wage salary for an apprentice.

He also has a work placement programme in place for The Prince's Trust's youngsters, carries out mentoring and gives inspirational talks for the Trust.

Charities

Charlie is a Patron of The Prince's Trust and is a sponsor and fund-raiser of The Rhys Daniels Trust and is also involved with the charities that featured in Secret Millionaire and various others.

“I've been fortunate enough to be in the position to be able to put something back into society by helping others. The work that all the charities carry out is amazing and so many people in need benefit from them, which is very inspiring for everyone.”

TV and Media

Being a archetypal entrepreneur and having a reputation as one of the UK’s most outspoken and controversial businessmen has attracted a lot of TV and media attention over the years. He has his own in-house PR team and is also represented by Recognition PR.

Charlie is regularly in national press and on the radio commenting on the latest news issue and he has regular columns in various top business publications and websites.

He has also appears often on BBC, ITV, Sky News and various others giving his response to the latest topics and featuring in broadcasts and debates. He has also featured in various TV documentaries including Channel 4's The Secret Millionaire, BBC 1's Posh Plumbers and was a judge on the BBC's Young Plumber of the Year.

Pimlico at Present

Pimlico is now London's largest independent plumbing & service company, providing all trades and serving all of London, with a workforce of 200, 160 vehicles and £16 million turnover. As the most high profile plumbing company in the world it has a celebrity clientèle, Simon Cowell, Dame Helen Mirren, Baroness Thatcher, Joan Collins, Jonathon Ross, Keira Knightly, Michael Winner and Richard Branson.

"I set out to change the image of the plumbing industry and I believe that is exactly what Pimlico Plumbers has done."

Pimlico's Future

He is still as enthusiastic, passionate and ambitious about Pimlico Plumbers as he was when he first started the company and is working to achieve the following:

Pimlico Plumbers to be recognised as the UK's leading plumbing and service company.