SHE knows where its at!

SHE knows where it’s at!

Safety Health & Environment company develops overseas business in Oman & Dubai. With help from UKTI Yorkshire, the company has bid for a £4million contract in Oman and has grown the export capacity of the business.

The SHE in SHE Knows stands for Safety, Health and Environment. The company provides professional Health and Safety Advice and high quality NVQ training and assessment to a wide variety of clients across a broad industry base.

An SME with a turnover of £1million, SHE Knows is owned and managed by Linda Crossland-Clarke and boasts 15 highly qualified members of staff who bring to the business a wealth of experience from a diverse mixture of Health and Safety backgrounds.

SHE Knows was formed by Linda Crossland-Clarke. As a busy single mum Linda wanted to make the best use possible of her experience and qualifications. In the late 1990s Linda had been living and working abroad. Upon her return to the UK with two small children Linda was determined to make the very best of herself and took a part time role as an NVQ Assessor. Linda undertook a certificate in Health and Safety and recognised that this was the area in which she wanted to build her future career. In 2003 she took the brave step of becoming self employed and has never looked back.

Since 2003 SHE Knows has grown from strength to strength. At first as Linda puts it, “I picked up contacts in the unlikeliest of industries.” Gradually Linda picked up over 20 contracts with such clients as Sellafield Ltd, ConocoPhilips UK, as well as various oil refineries and eventually she had generated enough business to be in a position to take on staff to assist and support her.

As well as specialist consultants across a broad range of areas including, fire, engineering, trade unions, food, education and more, SHE knows uses a network of highly skilled approved consultants to make sure that as far as possible, “if we can’t deliver what a client is looking for, then we know a consultant who can.”

“If we had to describe the company’s ethos in one punch-line, I think that we could say that we truly believe in bringing reasonably practicable and cost effective solutions to safety and health in your workplace.”

UKTI support

“It’s about playing the long game”, says Linda when asked about SHE Knows’ export success. Linda experienced some success in Dubai and Oman before she approached UKTI but explains that since she started liaising with UKTI’s Stephan Stahl the export side of her business has really taken off.

UKTI provide support in the critical form of marketing expertise and helping with finance. For a small business such as SHE Knows there can be times when financing such crucial aspects as flights and market research can be a struggle, this is where UKTI add real tangible value and support for companies such as Linda’s.

With UKTI’s help Linda is bidding for a £4million contract in Oman, she is flying out to Abu Dhabi and she now has clients in Zambia too.

Company: SHE Knows Health & Safety

Industry: Health & Training Consultancy

Website: www.she-knows.com

Linda is candid about the challenges she has faced and continues to face. She faces these challenges head on, though – with the help of UKTI and her team of staff that all pull together, “we are like a family business” says Linda, describing the atmosphere at work.

Business Impact

UKTI are invaluable to an SME such as SHE Knows. With their help, exploring new markets and growing the export capacity of the business is a very real possibility. The financial help and business support that UKTI provide relieves some of the burden on business owners like Linda and makes it possible to safeguard jobs and look to the future growth of a successful business. In this case one that was started by one woman, on her own, with little else but determination and a bloomin’ hard work ethic.

UKTI are invaluable to an SME such as SHE Knows. With their help, exploring new markets and growing the export capacity of the business is a very real possibility..

Contacts

If you are based in the Yorkshire and Humber region and are interested in developing your business overseas please contact:

UKTI Yorkshire

Tel: 0300 365 1000

Email [email protected]

If you are based in one of the other UK Regions find your nearest International Trade Advisor via our postcode search facility in Contacts in your region.

Sectors: Education & Training
Countries: Oman and Yorkshire and Humberside
Export Action Plan