RSP Safety Services Ltd: Safety is a growing business
When company boss Ray Smith said "we're still in a growth situation", it was a positive sign.
When company boss Ray Smith said "we're still in a growth situation", it was a positive sign.When he added that RSP Safety Services Ltd was looking for additional safety consultants, it signified expansion of the business. That is, developing the safety side as well as adding an environmental component in order to incorporate extra management services.
"We are looking for good trainers and good all-rounders," said Mr Smith.
"All clients will want to reduce accidents as well as their impact on the environment. It leads to a win-win situation as it usually means reduced costs overall and improves people's safety and well-being."
RSP Safety Services was founded nearly a decade ago by husband and wife team Ray and Diane Smith to provide health and safety consulting and training.
They built a solid client base around their core training and consulting services early on, expanded the business when in an ex-MoD unit in Alconbury from 2004/5 to 2008/9 – turnover increased by 83 per cent, but had to relocate to move to the next stage of growth.
A feeling of "being out on a limb" in Alconbury was a key factor in wanting to up sticks and become part of a community.
Mr Smith said: "We were too far away, not really Huntingdon, Cambridge or Peterborough. We also heard rumours about airfield redevelopment and were on three months' notice."
The couple wanted to be part of a young, growing community, such as Peterborough, and to grow with the city. It was thought to be ideal as the firm has clients UK wide.
They got their wish when Ray and Diane, daughter and marketing co-ordinator Raeanne Elliott, and consultant and trainer Chris Smith (no relation) moved to offices at Archdeaconry House, Gravel Walk, in the heart of the city.
They are well placed to provide companies with a wide range of health and safety support services and a much improved training portfolio, including courses accredited by IOSH, CIEH and HABC.
Ray says his business's strengths lie in being hands-on, practitioners of its craft – he is not fond of the term consultant.
"We have the skills, we have the diplomas, we ought to be able to roll up our sleeves and get stuck in not just advise," he said.
"We take a personal interest in our projects, working hard to find out how a business works and how to manage the risks – it is our USP (unique selling proposition)."
Ray's approach stems from early days when he was an RAF aircraft engineer managing a team and was "accosted" by health and safety (H&S) consultants. Ray had to deal with their "misinformed and exaggerated interpretation of EU directives" and he became a poacher to "catch them out".
He soon appreciated that H&S was actually about people not regulations.
A few years later, he left the RAF and joined an NHS trust as a risk manager, looking after a range of risks including H&S. Next it was specialising in safety at a construction company.
But Ray didn't feel clients were getting the service they deserved, so he started RSP Safety Services.
That was in December 1999 with Diane, whose background was education and training, who left a full-time training position to do the acounts. She soon gained a diploma in H&S, and still continues to do training at all levels, and is also a consultant.
The first two years were a case of "survive and pay the bills". But they were also a learning curve, learning about clients' needs, and adopting a policy of "doing" rather than "advising". it's still a philosophy they adhere to.
By 2005, they were too busy to manage the office, sales and marketing, so employed Raeanne to run the "back office".
The company is indebted to Business Link adviser Vic Rocks for its expansion at Alconbury.
Vic describes his initial work with RSP Safety Services: "Following the diagnostic and benchmarking, which compared performance indicators such as profitability and productivity, we drew up an action plan to consolidate and build on the success of the existing business, and agreed a schedule of monthly goals, and review meetings".
Diane said: "We continue to have regular contact and meetings with Vic Rocks who provides encouragement, helps us to prioritise, amend and adapt our action plan. He asks the difficult questions that we often avoid asking ourselves".
The last year at RSP Safety Services has been a whirlwind of growth and success. ISO 9001 accreditation was achieved in July 2008 and it is now looking forward to its first audit.
A great deal of time has been invested in systemising and streamlining documentation, which will be invaluable in reducing training time for new staff.
With the team continuing to grow, internal training has been a crucial focus at RSP. One member has achieved an NVQ Level 4 in Health and Safety Management and two staff members, Level 3 Learning Champions. RSP has also signed the LSC Skills Pledge and is committed to lifelong learning. "When we stop learning, we stop caring" says Ray.
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