Member Article

Warwick company on target for growth

A Warwick company which specialises in health and safety training is on course for a second successive year of 30 per cent growth.

ADL Associates (Warwick) Limited was established in 2011 and is expanding into new premises at the University of Warwick Science Park’s Warwick Innovation Centre in Gallows Hill.

The business has clients as far north as Inverness in Scotland to Exeter in the South West as well as in Ireland and Germany to provide training, coaching and mentoring through seminars and workshops in health and safety, food hygiene and environmental management systems.

Adrian Lee, managing director of ADL Associates, decided to launch the company after 20 years’ experience working in the sector including as a consultant for international airlines.

“I think any company that attempts to ignore health and safety is building up future problems because if you don’t address it, it just gets harder and harder to recover,” he said.

“It is all pervasive because there is no business that sits outside the Health and Safety at Work Act and the courts are now looking to punish companies for failure to comply with the regulations.

“In our experience all the companies that are good at health and safety are profitable. I suspect it is because health and safety puts a structure in place which they build on and those which are more business focused are bound to be more successful.

“ADL Associates employs five members of staff and eight associates who are specialists in certain areas and growth has been phenomenal – it has exceeded my initial business plan.

“Growth in our first year of trading was 30 per cent and it will be at least another 30 per cent this year.

“I think it is because we are cost-effective, no-nonsense and give our customers what they want. We dispel the mysteries of health and safety being some kind of black art.”

ADL Associates moved into the Warwick Innovation Centre as an Ignite tenant which provides the business services and support that start-ups need but is now moving into one of the main commercial units.

Adrian added: “We are doubling the size of our office because we need more space since we are three times ahead of our business plan.

“This is a great place because of the opportunity to establish the company and expand and the support from the staff is second to none.”

Karen Aston, centre manager at the Warwick Innovation Centre, said Adrian’s background in the hospitality, food manufacturing and airline industries meant ADL Associates was always certain to succeed – with the right support.

“ADL Associates is a great example for our Ignite programme since we were able to provide them with the services they needed to flourish and they are now in the position to expand into a bigger office within the science park,” she said.

“The company is certainly growing at a rapid rate in an area which businesses need to take very seriously.

“The fact their customers are spread throughout the UK and overseas underlines the wealth of experience Adrian and his team can bring to a business to make sure they have the correct procedures in place.”

PICTURE CAPTION: From the left, Karen Aston from the Warwick Innovation Centre with managing director Adrian Lee and operations manager Angela Harris from ADL Associates

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by University of Warwick Science Park .