We got it wrong once. Then we built it properly. Here’s the honest version.
Henry worked for a property management company across London. Thomas was a Gas Safe engineer. Both with many years of experience under their belts, both experts in their own lane — and both quietly frustrated by the same thing.
They kept seeing the same thing. Engineers not showing up. Quotes that never came. Five calls just to fix a boiler. They knew it didn't have to be this way.
In 2018, they took the leap. Henry had the laptop. Thomas had the van. No ads, no investors — just word of mouth and a reputation worth protecting.
Heatifix 1.0
Find great engineers, connect them with customers. Grow steadily — one at a time, supply meeting demand. Controlled. Considered. Simple.
What they didn't account for was how fast word travels. Demand didn't trickle in — it hit all at once. So they brought on more engineers. Problem solved, right?
Not quite.
The back office wasn't built for it. Think notepad, shared inbox, and a lot of optimism. Jobs fell through the cracks. Bookings were missed. The standards they'd built their names on became impossible to hold when the whole operation was running on two people and a biro.
More engineers didn't fix it. It just made the chaos louder. It backfired.
The very problems they set out to solve were happening on their own watch.
Heatifix 2.0
So they shut it down and started again. Not a tweak — a complete rebuild. This time the question wasn't how to find more engineers. It was how to build something that wouldn't break when things got busy.
The answer was infrastructure. Fully vetted engineers, recruited carefully and held to a single standard. A back office built from day one to handle real volume. And technology woven through every step — think what Uber did for getting a cab, but for home services. Book in minutes, get an engineer allocated within seconds, and in most cases they're with you within the hour. Every booking confirmed instantly. Every engineer fully briefed before they arrive. Upfront pricing, no surprises — and every customer knowing exactly what to expect before anyone knocks on their door.
The demand that broke version one became the foundation version two was built on.
It scaled. Word spread, the back office kept up, and before long there were fifteen vans on the road.
Then customers started asking — could they fix the leak under the sink? What about the bathroom sitting on the to-do list for two years? So they expanded. Plumbing, bathrooms, handyman — all under one roof, all to the same standard.
Today, 30+ vans cover London. Same two friends. Much bigger machine.
“Engineer arrived bang on time, diagnosed the fault in 20 minutes and had it fixed before lunch. Price was exactly what was quoted. That never happens — but with Heatifix it did.”
“Fixed the boiler, sorted a leak under the kitchen sink and put up two shelves. One visit, one invoice, all done properly. This is exactly what it should always be like.”
“Boiler packed in on a Sunday night in February. Heatifix had someone out Monday morning. Calm, clean, explained everything. Back to normal by midday. Cannot fault them.”
Book online in under 3 minutes. Fixed prices. No surprises. Pay on completion.
Heati