(When we talk about ‘brand’ here we refer to the ideas and attributes associated with you and what you do, as well as the ‘things’ such as logos and products. These are ideas or attributes such as who you are, what you do, how people experience you, what your defining characteristics are, what value might people get from it.)

Q1. Would you say that the development of your brand has played a part in your success?
A. Undoubtedly – my success is so linked to the Pimlico Plumbers brand that sometimes it’s hard to tell where I stop and the brand takes over. I’d say I am the human embodiment of the brand, or maybe the brand is just a projection of myself?

Q2. Can you tell us about any key ways in which you look to communicate your brand?
A. I do a lot of high profile campaigning for the greater availability and quality of trade apprenticeships. The training of the next generation of young British people, with skills that will serve them for a lifetime, is something that is very close to my heart. I believe in this cause passionately; the skills I learned as a young apprentice are the key to my success, and to the success of the future of the United Kingdom. This belief is at the core of Pimlico Plumbers, and I hope that seeing my passion helps people to understand what my brand is all about.  

Q3. How, if at all, has your brand been influenced or shaped by input from your audience?
A. My audience are my customers.  And historically the British public have tended to rate plumbers somewhere between politicians and used car salesmen, so my aim has always been to listen to their criticisms and build my brand as the antithesis of all their negative stereotypes.  

Q4. Thinking back to when you started out, how has your brand evolved since those early days?
A. The ethos behind the brand, Pimlico Plumbers, has always been the same, based on an honest and transparent service that is nothing short of the best, while always looking for ways to improve. That will always be the image I want our name to conjure up in people’s minds. We have become more sophisticated with our messaging, but irrespective of the medium, word of mouth or social media, the goal has never changed.

Q5. Is there any other brand (business, organisation, place, person, or any other) whose approach you find particularly interesting or appealing?
A. I am a huge fan of the Eddie Stobart brand. They have taken an unsexy commodity, heavy haulage, and turned it into a household name that is the gold standard in lorry transport.  

We’d like to thank Charlie Mullins & Pimlico Plumbers for their insight into the brand.