Member Article

Neil Armstrong of Fastflow tells bdaily about his big ambitions and charitable beliefs

For Neil Armstrong, CEO and owner of Fast Flow, providing personalised customer services is the main ethos of the company – despite the fact that he has some of the UK’s biggest utilities companies on his client list.

“Our main pursuit is to deliver top class customer services,” explains Neil. “ We listen to our customers key objectives, and strive to deliver them.”

Fastflow is an independent service provider to the utilities industry, and was originally part of Northumbrian Water, until a management buy-in saw Neil take the helm in 2005.

“It was a company with a great reputation, but was really punching above its weight, and needed more strategic focus,” Neil recounts.

Since then Neil has established offices in Scotland, Litchfield and Durham, and last year had a turnover of £30 million. Not bad for a “relatively small company”.

Neil seems unperturbed by the competition – indeed, he seems to relish it.

“Because we’re a small company, we can be nimble and quick to respond to any issues which arise – the company is not at all bureaucratic,” says Neil.

“Equally, we value each bit of business we get – big businesses don’t always have the same attitudes to smaller contracts as we do.”

He is now looking forward to develop Fastflow’s reputation as an innovator in the utilities industry, both in the North East and nationwide.

“It’s a small industry and people do talk – we aim to be innovative in terms of our research and development.

“We’re now looking to grow our business in Scotland. We’ve already had good plaudits, and ultimately we would love to be the service provider of choice.”

Increasing numbers of businesses are realising the importance of corporate and social responsibility, and Neil is no exception. For the past 15 years he has been heavily involved with Water Aid, a charity that provides clean water and sanitation to third world countries, and a topic he is clearly incredibly passionate about.

“Fastflow is a platinum member of water Aid, and over the years we have organised various events including charity bike rides and fundraising balls.

“This year we’ve sponsored a project in Nepal to build wells for a town of 4,000 people, and in a few weeks I’ll be going out there to see how its getting on – it’s an issue which is incredibly close to my heart.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .