Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day

Taking the event a step further

‘Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day ‘ is an annual event (this year celebrated on Thursday 28th April) that first began in America as a National Day that allowed the children a chance to see where their parents worked. It is now celebrated by many businesses in the UK as well. But what if your Son or Daughter works alongside you?

That is exactly the case for a number of the HF team in our branches nationwide. HF is a family business that stretches back over three centuries and is as old as electricity itself. Because of our rich history, excellent staff retention and length of service rates, we have a number of Father & Son and Father & Daughter combos working alongside each other at HF.

Niven and his son Nathan about to start work for the day in the Edinburgh branch while Kieran is currently working on site.

And one of those Father & Son teams are our Edinburgh based Electrical Director Niven Baillie and his two sons Nathan and Kieran.

Niven. What is it like working alongside your sons?

In the office, they are both members of the team. I have to treat them the same as everyone else. One rule we have is that work stays at work.

Is it hard being a parent one minute and their Boss the next?

There are always going to be ups and downs but over the years that they have worked with me at HF, there is nothing we couldn’t get through.

Do you have a favourite story of working alongside your kids at HF?

There is a great sense of pride when I hear from clients that I have known for most of my working life who tell me they can tell they are my Sons simply because of the way they have found a way to solve issues on site the same way that I used to.

We have always considered our employees as part of the family and that family atmosphere we feel has helped many to stay with us for a very long time. Our Telecommunications division (for example) was originally founded by two of our Electrical team who are now celebrating more than 25 years at HF. In 2022 alone, we have already celebrated three individuals who have hit the 20 year anniversary mark at HF.

Our team are an invaluable asset to our business and we ensure that we offer everyone at the company many training and development opportunities, encouraging them to climb the ladder and make HF a permanent home for their working lives. We want the entire team to share in a thriving and mutually supportive working environment, keeping them in the loop of how the business is doing while reaching out and offering support to them when they need it.

The benefit to us? Excellent staff retention and length of service rates. And to our clients? The reassurance of the best possible service, throughout every aspect of your communications with us.