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out another full fibre installation at the hospital’s children’s operating theatre. The company believes in training engineers so they’re skilled in multiple disciplines and this approach was key during the Ninewells work. It meant they could rotate workers between the two sites and give them breaks to help their mental health.


Restart and recovery None of Panacea’s engineers contracted COVID but as lockdown measures ease, Billy knows they can’t be complacent. “Things are starting to move but it still


feels strange,” he said. “We’re obviously delighted that no one in the company has become unwell because of COVID but we’re acutely aware of the people in the area who have lost their lives. We’re also thankful that we have a business to come back to once the pandemic is over with and we can become stronger. But our thoughts are definitely with everyone who has had to endure the last year, whether they’ve been in business or not. It’s been very stressful.”


While work at the hospital has kept the team busy, some of their other projects


Te firm fits a lot of Aid Call systems


have been put on hold by the pandemic. The firm fits around 100 Aid Call systems each year to help elderly and vulnerable people but have had to wait until the customers have had both their vaccine injections before they can continue. It means they’ll now have to fit a year’s worth of work into nine months, but Billy isn’t daunted by the challenge and has planned for the tighter schedule.


Bright future


Looking to the future, he’s optimistic about what lies ahead for the company. He said: “We’re really excited. All three areas we work in are strong and I’d expect us to double our turnover this year. It means we’re profitable and we can also look after everyone. “We don’t want to get so big that people become stressed because they’re being pushed too hard. “We’ve got a lot of work lined up in the health industry and you can see that things are starting to pick up again. Our new office will also help us to service more areas and give us a good foothold throughout Scotland. “Things happen in life that make you readjust but if you treat everyone with humility and kindness, you’ll get that back tenfold. That’s what we do here. “It’s not always easy to make sure


Mike Carlin and Craig Soutar are part of the Panacea team


we keep everyone happy but we try our hardest. “Our staff get approached by other companies but they tell them they’re happy where they are and I think that says a lot. “Everyone gets a Christmas night out and their partners get a gift voucher too. They’re just as important as the engineers. We know their kids’ names, they all get an egg from us at Easter, and we have a staff barbecue in summer. It all makes people feel like they’re part of the family and that they’re an individual, not a number.”


CABLEtalk JUNE/JULY 2021 21


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