From Fire Alarms to Royal Palaces: The AMP EV Story
Ten years ago, our MD, Alasdair was managing fire alarm installations. Last year, he was sitting at a roundtable in Hampton Court Palace, with former US Secretary of State John Kerry on one side and the editor of TIME Magazine on the other – a guest at an initiative founded by King Charles III himself.
It is the kind of journey that sounds too good to be true. But for the director of AMP EV, one of the UK’s fast-growing electric vehicle charging companies, it is proof that opportunity rewards those who show up and do the work.
Alasdair’s invitation to the Sustainable Markets Initiative, the King’s landmark project uniting 400 global businesses around purpose, people and profit, came off the back of a trade delegation to COP29 in Baku, partly supported by Lancashire County Council and REDCAT.
What began as an international business trip opened doors to a room filled with billionaires, political heavyweights, and the world’s leading sustainability innovators, including Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest, pioneer of hydrogen-powered cargo ships.
“It was surreal,” Alasdair recalls.
“Walking through Hampton Court Palace, surrounded by centuries of royal history, and then suddenly you’re being introduced to the editor of TIME Magazine, the CEO of a global mining empire and US politicians… You don’t quite believe it’s happening.”
What makes the story remarkable isn’t just the room he found himself in but the road that got him there. A decade earlier, Alasdair was running a local fire alarm and security business, with no connection to the EV world at all. The skills transferred more than he expected: IT networking, systems integration, customer service standards, and people skills are now the backbone of AMP EV’s charging infrastructure.
Since that day at Hampton Court, AMP EV has grown by 250% — a figure Alasdair is careful not to overstate, but one he is proud of, nonetheless. “It’s raised our exposure. It has made our brand known, not just here, but internationally,” he says.
But ask him what he actually took from the experience, and the answer is not about business cards or deals. It is something simpler.
“It wasn’t really a takeaway, it was inspiration,” he says. “If I can get here, where else can I go? in the next 10”
For more information on how AMP EV can help your business, please visit: ampev.co.uk
