Bringing The Essentials »
Bringing Essential Electrical Services to Customers Near and Far
Produced by Arianna Serino & Written by Camila Osorno - Published in Canadian Business Executive
PR Bridge Systems Ltd. (PRBS) has grown over three decades from a small electrical contracting company into a comprehensive full-service electrical services provider based out of Victoria, British Columbia. PRBS takes pride in offering clients a one-stop shop for all of their electrical needs, from data and network cabling to security systems, offering all of them with the professionalism and friendliness only a family-owned and -operated business can offer.
“We’re celebrating 30 years this year since my father bought the company in 1981,” explains Peter (Skip) Bridge, second generation owner alongside his business partner and brother in-law, Doug Vincent. “I came on board in the late ’80s and I bring a background of electronic engineering technologies, so I really wanted to grow the business into communications and data.”
Bridge and Vincent have carried on where Bridge’s father left off when he passed away in 2005. They have helped the company expand its services to include basically everything that is required in today’s buildings. “When I came on I was really passionate about bringing this company into communications, so we started by adding in structured cabling and networking and worked our way into fiber optics and other technologies as they became available. We have also added telephone switches and security systems to offer the client a complete solution,” says Bridge. In addition, PRBS works dutifully with clients throughout the entire province of British Columbia, helping to grow the customer base and establish a core group of partners.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
PRBS maintains two offices in order to stay closer to clients throughout the region. The firm prides itself on its hands-on customer service, and having more than one location gives it a leg up in that regard over the competition.
“We have our original office location in Victoria, that handles work up and down the island primarily,” says Bridge. “We
also have had a branch office in Vancouver for about 11 years now, and from there we handle both local and more remote projects. For the most part, if we can travel to the location, we will perform all of the work ourselves, but if the client is in a very tiny and remote town, we will sometimes reach out to a core group of partner companies who will actually take care of the installation, if necessary.”
PRBS brings its expertise to a wide variety of clients and projects, including residential, commercial and institutional work. “We have done a lot of work on some very high-end multi-residential buildings recently that involved wiring every single unit with state-of-the-art high-speed Internet systems, as well as outfitting the entire development with complete electrical, communications and security systems,” says Bridge. “We offer design-build capabilities as well. I personally design a lot of data centers and we have built many data centers mostly for financial institutions over the years.”
In addition, the firm brings its expertise to the public sector, helping the province stay ahead of technological developments. “We recently helped install a new security system for the B.C. Ferries both on their ships and at their terminals. The system required both a traditional CCTV system, but we also included a streaming IP video system so that all the cameras are connected through a central network to stream the video off-site if needed,” states Bridge. “The streaming security networks are becoming more and more popular these days because they offer the possibility of centralized monitoring from a remote location.”
Building an Empire
In the coming years, PRBS will be focusing its efforts on diversifying the business. The firm is about constant evolution, which in the electrical contracting is key to survival. “Our vision from day one was to become a single-source solution for our clients so the client only has to manage and work with one company who can handle everything,” Bridge says. “We have established the majority of components we need, so moving into the next few years I don’t think we’ll be expanding into too many new things. If we do, it will probably in the security division, because it is definitely a growing division.” Achieving the goal of being a single-source solution will help shield the blow from potential economic downturns, reinforces Bridge.
“Over the past five to 10 years, we have been pursuing this kind of diversification because we knew that eventually we would face tough times and it would help us get through,” he explains. “We’re focused on bringing these new services to our existing clientele. We have clients who have worked with us for years, and instead of going after a whole new set of clients every year we want to be able to keep up with technological developments and bring these services to the clients who know and trust us.”
Building off of a 30-year tradition of doing business with integrity throughout different locations and specialized services, PR Bridge Systems Ltd. is sure to keep pleasing customers for decades to come.