Edward Cockayne started the business in 1970. His son, Stephen, joined in 1984 on a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) and attended Garretts Green Technical College, which was the leading college in the field at the time. Stephen completed a City Guilds in Heating Ventilation and an Ordinary National Certificate (ONC) in Heating and Air conditioning.
Cockayne were CORGI registered from a very early stage, when participation in the scheme was optional and standards in the industry generally were much lower than they should have been. Later, CORGI membership became compulsory and the task of trying to drive up standards began. Although it was unpopular at the time, as a business we embraced the change andin our opinion it has worked to a large degree. There will always be poor, unregistered and dangerous engineers, just don't get on the receiving end of one, and report them where possible!
CORGI became Gas Safe and Cockayne are still members with an unblemished record.
Cockayne carry out all aspects of domestic and light commercial gas heating and plumbing to a high standard. We have a very good reputation locally.
Cockayne do not spend too much time trying to be "the cheapest" as this often ends up costing customers more in the long run! We do make every effort to be careful, thoughtful, polite, considerate and represent good value. We listen to what our customers want, and try to exceed there expectations in all aspects. We have many customers going back well over 30 years who we can only assume to be reasonably satisfied!
We specialise in boiler replacements and system upgrades. Most properties these days have a heating system of some sort which will eventually need a replacement boiler and this offers a golden opportunity to have an experienced eye cast over it and sensible improvements made using good quality products.
To this end, Cockayne have used Vaillant boilers for over 20 years and can vouch for their enviable reputation in the industry for quality and reliability. Of course, we havefitted other brands over the years, and are quite happy to do so if required. However, as yet we have not been tempted away from these high quality German products. They may not be at the "budget" end of the market, but in our experience the overall ownership experience and long term cost is likely to be far superior to most other makes.
Vaillant boilers come with a FREE 7 year manufacturers warranty when installed by VaillantAdvance Installers, which we are! This means that we have attended Vaillant's own training schemes and install to a such a high standard that they have the confidence to attach this superb warranty.
Cockayne also pride ourselves on being capable of dealing with unusual systems and problems where experience counts.
Cockayne have experience of linking multiple appliances of differing fuels into a single system; gas boilers, for example, and gas and multi-fuel stoves into a conventional heating system alowing each appliance to share the heating load.
Cockayne have a wide variety of experienced trades people to call upon around us, so what ever the situation we have the necessary expertise at hand.
Cockayne can also undertake all aspects of general plumbing, gas fitting, installation and maintenance, with Vaillant boilers being a speciality.
Stephen Cockayne is qualified to City Guilds Level 3 in Energy Efficiency for Domestic Heating and NAEA Level 3 in Domestic Energy Assessment. Both Stephen and Edward are CRB cleared and have attended numerous relevant manufacturers product training over the years.