CONSULTING

It was 9am on the day of the Grenfell Fire in London and I happened to be training Fire Engineers in London that day. The topic was networking and stakeholder management. Richard, the Senior Fire Engineer was the first in the room and having seen the horrific pictures on the BBC an hour before, I naturally asked him what he thought had caused such a disaster.

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Richard clearly articulated, in layman's terms, how he thought the cause of events that led to the disaster was cladding used on the exterior. This was an attempt to update the aesthetics of the tired old social housing buildings built post-WWII. 

 

In his educated opinion, this could have been avoided if a number of basic Fire engineering solutions applied. I then began to question how many buildings would be at similar risk to which he replied "Thousands". 

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There are occasions where out of disaster opportunities arise that could make an enormous impact if implemented at the right time by the right people...

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We went on to discuss the possibility of designing a set of services that would help prevent this occurring again for those buildings at risk." With this in mind the team began to take their ideas and create a plan to package and promote Fire Engineering Solutions for thousands of buildings around the UK.

 

Now having a very relevant product to promote, we then began introducing to a very enthused team new techniques and tools to identify and target a perspective market using strategic ways to reach out and engage this very niche opportunity. 

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This included applying some very practical skills and strategic plans for attending industry events for networking and researching relevant key information. This replaced the usual strategy of time wasted on being uncomfortable, handing out dozens of business cards and finding themselves at the bar hiding behind a cheeky shiraz with another introvert. 

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Over the next few months Richard and his team had numerous opportunities to present their services along with their expert engineering knowledge to industry leading bodies, social housing and companies throughout the UK. As individuals, they gained exposure, placing them as fire engineering experts in their chosen fields. 

 

They also created a niche market for their company placing them as leaders in Fire Engineering in the UK and abroad.