Hi °C | Lo °C Healthy Buildings Ireland Ltd (HBI) in Belfast is an environmental health services company which last year established a new division called HBE Risk Management based in Edinburgh.
Seeing opportunities to capitalise on the growing demand for its services across Great Britain, the company approached Invest Northern Ireland in February 2012 for support to help develop business opportunities in Scotland and the North of England.
Following a review of the plans, Invest NI offered HBI almost £30,000 towards the implementation of a bespoke marketing strategy aimed at winning business in England and Scotland.
“Our success is very much built upon our strong focus on R&D in the environmental health sector,” said HBI Managing Director Adrian Byrne. “With exports accounting for over 65 per cent of our business already, this investment will give us the capacity to grow this further as we diversify into new markets.
“Our new division, HBE Risk Management, is servicing the growing demand for our offering in GB. Invest NI’s financial support and expertise is helping us to put in place the resources we need to actively market this part of the company and create new jobs to meet that demand.”
HBI’s specialist services include air quality, occupational health and safety, fire prevention, asbestos management and water quality covering legionella and pseudomonas control.
The company already employs almost 60 specialist staff from a diverse portfolio of scientific and engineering backgrounds and has offices in Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh and Cork. HBI’s expansion will create around 15 new jobs over the next 18 months.
Oonagh Hinds, Manager of Invest NI’s Eastern Regional Office, added: “HBI is an excellent example of an R&D led services business which has experienced significant growth and almost doubled its staff within the last six years.
“This investment will see it target new business in Great Britain where it projects sales of almost half a million pounds by 2013.Our support is helping the company to raise its profile and to build a database of contacts in its target markets.”
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