The owner of a South Lakes family firm is determined to look to the future and keep serving the local community after what he described as ‘the hardest 12 months of my life’.
Jacob Hughes was forced to put his company into liquidation, lost his mum to cancer and is selling his house to pay creditors.
But Zebra Electrical, based at Burton-in-Kendal, is now back up and running, picking up new contracts and has plans to develop the business.
“The past year has been by far the most challenging period of my life,” said Jacob, 36, who lives at Warton, near Carnforth, with his wife, Carla and two children, Leon, nine, and Lily, five. “It has been a test of Carla’s and my emotional strength but also empowering because it has grounded us and made us realise what is important in life.
“It has been unbelievably hard and stressful but now we are really just trying to look at the positives and move forward.”
Jacob, a former pupil of Queen Elizabeth School at Kirkby Lonsdale, completed a City and Guilds NVQ Level 3 in electrotechnical installation at Lancaster and Morecambe College. It had always been his dream to run his own company and he set up Hughes Electrical Contractors Ltd in 2014.
It changed its name in 2019 to Zebra Electrical because Jacob believed it was a more appealing name to attract further domestic customers.
Services include electrical installation – everything from a complete rewire to an extra socket or light in a house or commercial property; maintenance and callouts; and testing of equipment and certification. The company branched out into renewables – solar panels and battery storage – and, alongside partners, providing air source heat pumps.
The business, which covers the Lake District, North Yorkshire and north Lancashire area and has also done work in Preston, Blackpool and Manchester, built up strong relationships with clients and grew swiftly. By 2023 it employed around 12 staff.
But Jacob and Carla were forced to put the company into voluntary liquidation in July this year. “A big factor was that, post-Covid, a number of our customers went into liquidation which meant we lost work and the money they owed to us,” said Jacob. “They were victims themselves and we tried to help them through the situation by giving them more credit.
“Rising material costs were also an issue. Our cash flow worsened and we borrowed money against our home to see us through this time.”
Jacob said he took two weeks off at Christmas last year to spend time with the family. “The plan was to come back and really hit the ground running but the day before we were due to start work again my mum was rushed into hospital, diagnosed with cancer and put on end-of-life care.
“I spent a lot of time caring for her and was not able to work. We are a family business and I am a family man and I had to be there for my mum.”
Jacob’s mother, Alison Semple (Wilkinson), a former deputy head at Queen Elizabeth School and head at Queen Elizabeth Studio School, died on February 10.
When Zebra Electrical went into liquidation Jacob had to make some of his staff redundant. “It was absolutely devastating. I felt sick. They are my friends who I have worked with day in, day out.”
Jacob said he had used all the inheritance from his mum and was selling his house to pay creditors. All small local business creditors have been paid in full.
“I did consider quitting around the time of the liquidation but carried on because I am passionate about what we do and enjoy helping people and providing the best possible service,” said Jacob.
He has bought the assets, name and goodwill of the former company. He now employs one member of staff and two of those he had to make redundant, who have since become self-employed, are used as sub-contractors. “I also gifted them some of my equipment and tools to help them in their new ventures,” said Jacob.
“Helping the community is a big part of the ethos of Zebra Electrical. Over the years we have trained up four or five people from apprentices to becoming qualified and want to help boost the local economy.
“We sponsor the Vale of Lune Rugby Club and have sponsored a member of the Morecambe FC women’s football team. During Covid St Oswald’s Church in Warton wanted to put on a carol concert but could not do so indoors so we spent a day rigging up lighting outdoors in the ruins of the old rectory and around 100 people were able to attend, legally and safely.”
He said the company had recently won some exciting new contracts and he was keen to implement some new initiatives to improve the service offered to customers.
“We also want to grow the solar side of the business to help us deliver on one of our core values – helping the environment.”
Jacob is president of business networking group Kendal BNI and said the support and advice he had received from its members had been invaluable.
