To celebrate Compass Environmental Consultancy turning two, we caught up with our Managing Director, Stewart Ower, to reflect upon the last 24 months and to look ahead to what’s in store for the future!
Earlier this month, Compass Environmental Consultancy celebrated its second anniversary. Time has certainly flown by and if I take a moment to reflect on all that we have achieved in such a short time I am hugely proud.
When you set up a new business and you have decided on the services you are going to offer, your first customers, however small, are always going to remain special to you. We deliberately set out to be different, stripping away the large, faceless, corporate approach, really getting to know our customers and quickly becoming trusted partners based on great service delivered with a personal touch and good humour.
As a relatively small family run company we have met some great businesses and people on our journey so far. From individual homeowners with environmental planning conditions to satisfy; property developers requiring site investigation and remediation services; petrol filling stations with historic soil and groundwater contamination issues; to providing environmental risk management to a household name nationwide retailer and spill response training to nuclear defence establishments.
Some highlights to date would be:
· We have trained over 175 delegates on our “UKSpill Approved” Spill Responder courses
· Our environmental expertise has been recognised by the Fire Service College where I have become an Associate Tutor training HazMat Advisors from the British Fire Service and brigades around the World.
· In May 2018 we moved into our office, a character building dating from the 15th Century located in my hometown of Wokingham
· In February 2019, I received honoury life membership of the UKSpill Association for my services to the spill industry
· We partnered with Evergreen Insurance Brokers and Aviva to create “Oilshield”, an insurance and risk management scheme for fuel oil distributors. We made our first official outing with Oilshield by exhibiting at this year’s FPS EXPO in Liverpool. The scheme has been a tremendous success so far and is growing at a fantastic rate. Oilshield has enabled us to support like-minded family businesses.
· We have also formed strategic partnerships with a number of quality partners who share our ethos of providing excellence with a smile.
· We have travelled the length and breadth of the country to the point where the staff in Stafford Services on the M6 recognise us!
Looking forward:
We are about to launch a Health, Safety, Environment & Rescue Alliance which will bring a small group of businesses together with complimentary services so our customers can access a comprehensive range of HSE and Rescue services through one gateway. Watch this space!
The work has been varied and exciting and I have been fortunate enough to be supported by an excellent team of talented individuals. It has been a genuine pleasure and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for the continued growth and success of the business.
Compass - Leading the Way – Providing Direction & Guidance