A Peckham electrician, who runs his own company at just 23, talks about how much he earns, being searched by police, and how he is inspiring the youth to get into trades.
Joshua King made headlines just weeks ago after a video circulated online that showed him and his colleagues being stopped by officers, on the way home from a job in Clapham.
The video showed two Met Police searching Josh – who was in uniform branded with his company name KK Electrical.
“I’ve never been stopped by police before,” Josh said, “I was driving the car, I stopped instantly.”
“We carry various tools for work.
“They found a lock knife – which is used to strip armour cables. So I tried to explain that to them.
“But they weren’t having any of it and said we didn’t look like electricians.”
Josh continued: “What does an electrician look like? What does a lawyer look like? What does a builder look like?”
“You know – it was a very traumatising experience.”
Commenting after the incident, a Met spokesperson told The Standard: “The men were searched after a passenger in the car was seen attempting to hide a lock knife in a door compartment following a traffic stop.
“Possession of a lock knife is illegal and officers thought the man’s attempt to hide it was suspicious. He was arrested on suspicion of being in possession of an offensive weapon.
“The man claimed he was using the knife for work, however, the group’s other tools were found in the boot, rather than the passenger compartment.
“Ultimately the Crown Prosecution Service decided the man should face no further action, but we regularly see the devastation knives cause and officers will do all they can to remove them from the streets of London.”
Josh continued: “It did make me want to quit – because I can face these problems even when I’m doing everything by the book.”
On leaving school, he did an apprenticeship and was a qualified electrician by 20.
The 23-year-old explained: “I was on site for over a year.
“Because of the work I put in, I was very knowledgeable in my trade. So I just took the risk and said you know what – let me make my own company.
“Before I knew it I had about ten to fifteen people working for me.”
Despite the experience with the police, Josh said he is not giving up on his goal to get young people into employment.
“I get so many messages asking me how to get into a trade.
“So I really want to set up a charity where I show people how to get into various trades – you know plumbing, heating, electrical.
Asked about how much someone can earn in a job like this, Josh replied: “Anyone in the sector can expect to earn between £40,000-50,000.
But if you’re self-employed like him – ‘the sky is the limit.’ “You can earn £80,000 and up – it’s a stable career.”
His current workforce ranges from aged 17 to 45.
“People always say to me how come you’re so young and you’ve got all these people who are older than you what do they say – but it just comes down to work.
“At the end of the day, I do everything by the book, I pay everyone on time, and I build good relationships with everyone.
“With my company, you’re more than just a number you’re part of the family.”
“We’re not the typical man in a van – we do big contracts” – the most recent being the Canada Water Masterplan.
Josh is looking to collaborate with Community Southwark to start doing workshops for people.
“There are a lot of things people get wrong. So I feel like by doing this it would help a lot of people – young and old.”