LDC Top 50 2026
Declan Ausher
Founder and Managing Director
Primech Building Services
Aged 30, Declan Ausher was offered a life-changing sum to sell his Kent-based building contractor. He turned it down. “I’m driven to achieve and succeed,” says the now 34-year-old founder of Primech Building Services.
Turnover at the mechanical and electrical retrofit specialist, which works in schools, hospitals and government buildings, will hit £36 million this year. Declan has big plans to expand the business to become a full-service ecosystem. He also hopes to build his own training programme “My first employee was an apprentice and we haven’t stopped training since,” he says. “I have even helped many staff found their own businesses; I’m passionate about backing people.”
Every business we add to the group will create opportunities through senior roles, new ventures and more chances for people to flourish.”
Q&A
Where will future growth come from?
I would like to build an asset lifecycle technical services group which brings all the services we need under one roof and am looking at M&A opportunities. Right now we serve Kent, London and the Home Counties but I want to achieve nationwide coverage. I couldn’t be more ambitious; I don’t believe in working hours and I love what I do.
Where does your passion for people come from?
I promised myself I’d open doors for others because of how hard I found it to get started in my career. When I left school, I worked for a local one-man band for free for six months, just to get experience on my CV. I couldn’t find anyone to take me on as an apprentice, so I did my on-site qualifications a year late. That stuck with me. My first employee was an apprentice and most of my best team members started as apprentices and moved up into management. When people want to start their own businesses, I back them and assist their growth through Primech. Whether it’s building a business of their own or achieving a personal goal, there’s no better feeling than watching my people flourish.
How important is sustainability to you?
It’s at the heart of the business. Most of our work is around decarbonisation and energy efficiency, helping schools, hospitals and government buildings to cut their carbon and running costs. And we practise what we preach. Our office generates its own energy and we’ve come off the gas grid entirely. We run a paperless office and every load of waste is monitored so we know exactly what’s recycled and what goes to landfill. Electric vehicles are difficult when your engineers travel all over, but we’re regionalising the team to solve this – London jobs are delivered by London staff who can get the Tube to site. There’s always a way.
