In 1986 Philip Miller’s father had an idea about the business he had set up with Russ Colden. Anyone who opened the yellow pages would see his business first. Thus was ABCA born. Specialising in time and attendance and other low voltage systems, it was destined to make a big bang. This is the story of how it happened.

ABCA started off as a lifestyle business in the Northeast of England then in his mid-50s, the senior Mr Miller decided to get his son, Philip involved in the family business Philip Miller was then based in the US. He had recently graduated in economics from Ohio Wesleyan University on a football scholarship and was working as a graduate sales manager for Ferguson Enterprises.

It was 2005 when Philip Miller returned to the UK and joined forces with his father. The pair worked well together, sharing similar styles and motivations.

Miller observes, “Luckily me and my dad got on, you know, two very similar people, very sales orientated with mutual respect. That was always our drive.”

The time and place were auspicious for the business’s growth; ABCA was about to take off.

“I always say business is about the right people in the right place at the right time, which is something I got from my first boss, Chris Bodenstine at Ferguson Enterprises,” Miller smiles.

It was a philosophy he quickly put into practice, bringing two men on board who would be critical to ABCA’s progress. Chris Scott was an old school friend of Miller’s whom he enticed from an accountancy position in London, and Phil Batson, another accountant, joined as ABCA’s financial controller. Scott and Batson are still with ABCA and the three set about growing the business together.