19/03/12

Self-made man Danny Lucas

Danny Lucas left school at 15 without a qualification to his name.

Set books had not been his thing. Yet within weeks of quitting full-time education, he was buried in business textbooks.

He joined his dad Sam in the family's spray finishing and painting firm. But the Londoner who moved to Gravesend gave him son no favours.

"I started on the tools, up at five in the morning, seven days a week," he recalls.

"I loved it. I could get out, earn money, be my own person and not have to answer to teachers. It felt good. My friends were going clubbing while I was soaking up bits and pieces about business."

Working on projects like the Harlequin Theatre and Lombard insurance offices, Redhill, and Royal Holloway College, Egham, he rose to foreman and contracts manager.

Cowboys, deep public suspicion of the sector, and "subby-bashing" by large contractors blighted construction's image.

Danny realised that the firm had to stand out from the crowd by upping its game.

Quality accreditation and insistence on quicker payment edged the firm towards Danny's goal of making S Lucas "a Porsche" among construction firms.

He moved the Wrotham-based company into fit-out work to complement its coating specialism.

In 1997, Sam went to the States and made his son managing director. It would eventually lead to a management buyout in 2010.

The firm has worked on high-quality projects for Blue Chip clients - F1 team McLaren, Sir Robert McAlpine (Olympic projects), The Shard, Emirates Air Line, the new cable car project linking the O2 with Excel, The Savoy Hotel, Heathrow T5, Cafe Royal, Westfield Stratford and the Cutty Sark.

Entrepreneurial flair made the family firm more than a "lifestyle" venture, Inspired by Apple's Steve Jobs, McLaren's Ron Dennis and Mace's Steve Pycroft, Danny has kept the firm ahead of the game.

He insists his business is about doing things properly, creating a desirable brand through quality and not selling cheap.

"I'm doing what Steve Jobs did, what Ron Dennis does. They've got a top name for what they do. I feel proud of what I've achieved."

But he recognises there is more to do. His dream is to turn Invicta Business Park, Wrotham, into a technology complex dominated by the Lucas operation.

"Kent is a fantastic business location and logistically we couldn't be in a better position."