There were no alarm bells ringing when Christina Powell joined her family-run company in its 30th year of business in Derbyshire.
The 27-year-old has been appointed operations manager at Castle Alarms in Brook Street, Heage, Derbyshire, which is one of the county’s largest independent specialists in intruder alarms.
The company which installs and maintains alarms and CCTV systems for domestic and commercial premises has NSI Gold status which is the highest accreditation in the industry.
Christina has now joined her mum and dad, Ann and Harry, in running Castle Alarms which has marked its 30th anniversary this year.
The growth of the company has been overseen by accountants and business advisors Baldwins, based in Nottingham.
Christina said: “I joined in January although I have been working for the business all my life as I have grown up with it.
“I am now learning the ropes so that when my dad thinks about retiring I will be fully prepared in all aspects of the business to take over and our customers know there will be continuity.
“I went to Bangor University between 2005-2010 and did my Masters degree in music so it couldn’t be more different being involved in an alarms business!
“For the last three years I have been teaching but I really wanted to focus on the family business so I now work full-time here and teach privately in the evenings.
“I look after all the property surveys, logistics and admin to make sure all the paperwork is ready for the engineers and I am really enjoying it.
“To reach 30 years in business is a significant milestone and I think that is because of the personal service that we provide. Our customers know they will always speak to someone they have dealt with before 24 hours a day rather than ringing a call centre.”
Castle Alarms has been a client of Baldwins accountants in Eldon Business Park, Attenborough, Beeston, Nottingham, for the last five years.
Christina added: “Baldwins has allowed us to take the business to another level with their advice. They have highlighted how to improve our cash flow and instead of simply doing the basics such as our accounts, they have provided information and advice which is really important to a small business like ours.”
Martin Hinrich, of Baldwins accountants, said Castle Alarms was a perfect example of a family-run business which was growing steadily and planning for the future.
“The company’s key strengths are being continued by Christina although there is no chance of Harry and Ann taking a back-seat just yet!” he said.
“We have suggested a number of ways to enable Castle Alarms to go from strength to strength in a competitive market place which have been taken on board and allowed them to focus on certain areas of the business from a financial perspective.
“To have reached their 30 year anniversary is a major achievement and we wish them every success for the next 30 years.”
