About
JLN offers a variety of plumbing, heating and renewables solutions around Coventry and the surrounding areas. It was formed in 2007 by James, and has scaled significantly after acquiring another local company, Premier Gas.
A year ago, the team were relying on spreadsheets, whiteboards, and bits of paper flying around the office to manage their heat pump workflow. JLN now uses Spruce end-to-end, cutting admin time by at least 50% and recently had their strongest year in two decades.
"Before Spruce, we were very much reliant on spreadsheets, whiteboards, and bits of paper flying around the office. We were worrying 'have we done this thing? Have we done that thing? Have we done the other?'" - James, Director
The Challenge
JLN had built a successful plumbing and heating business over 20 years, but heat pumps introduced a level of paperwork the team hadn't dealt with before. Site surveys meant going out with pen and paper, and spending three to five hours measuring everything manually. Back in the office, the data had to be entered into calculation software, then transferred into a separate quoting tool, and then into separate MCS documentation.
Duplicating information at every step
By the time the team had sent a proposal, the same customer information had been entered multiple times across different systems. Each duplication was another chance for error – a wrong figure, a mistyped price, and the risk of losing a job or not getting the BUS grant.
"Every step of this had to be done correctly because the grant is a lot of money. If we miss a step or get something wrong, then what's going to happen? It would be really bad for us."
No room to scale
JLN could manage with their old process for a small number of installs, but as demand grew it couldn't keep up. Each installation meant doing between half a day and a full day of paperwork on top of the survey and design work. Admin staff needed detailed explanations of what each figure meant and where it should go, because every piece of software laid things out differently to how it appeared on the official forms.
"There's other software that does individual steps well, but nothing that covers all of the stages really well. The key to the whole process is that end-to-end solution in one place."
The Solution
When an enquiry comes in through JLN's website, the customer's details go straight into Spruce — no manual data entry, no copying across from a contact form. Spruce automatically pulls EPC data for the property and produces an initial heat loss estimate, allowing Jim's team to qualify the lead and respond to the homeowner without needing to leave the office.
From there, the survey data, heat loss calculations, proposal, MCS documentation, and DNO application all flow from the same information. Enter it once, and it carries through.
One of the small details Jim really likes is the Ofgem BUS application. Spruce lays out every field in exactly the order it appears on the official form, with a copy button next to each one. Someone with no heat pump experience can sit in front of two screens and fill it out without needing anything explained - meaning an extra burden off Jim’s shoulders.
"You can put an office admin person, who has no experience in heat pumps, in front of two screens and just say, fill out that form. It couldn't be any more simple."
The Results
Key outcomes:
Admin time reduction: Cut admin time by at least 50% per job
Faster turnaround: Enquiry to proposal in one to two days
Increased confidence: The team knows nothing will get missed
JLN has had its strongest year since starting 20 years ago - both profit and turnover are up by a considerable amount. The business has taken on three new engineers in the last 12 months and is now completing around two heat pump installs per week.
Beyond the numbers, there's been a shift in morale. Engineers who used to see heat pumps as complicated extra work now actively want to do them over traditional boiler jobs.
"There's a buzz in the office, the morale's up. Everyone wants to be doing heat pumps. We've had our busiest year since we started 20 years ago, by a considerable amount."
James's View
"If you want to grow your business, start upping the numbers, and sleep at night, you need software that can do this."
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