Safety gear supplier is plugging gap in market
Jan 12 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal
A SMALL enterprise which started as a home-based eBay hobby selling earplugs is making a big noise in the business world.
Safety-One UK Ltd was started by Mike and Pam Morrell from their home with a £20 box of earplugs, and now employs two staff and two apprentices from its offices at Peterlee’s Thornley Station Industrial Estate.
Mr Morrell, a former safety engineer at Nissan, said: “My parents had been selling stuff on eBay, they had been buying stuff from shops and listing them.
“I got a box of earplugs – it was more of a part-time hobby for my wife who was pregnant at the time.
“The earplugs sold very quickly, so we bought some glasses.
“The first month was £200, then £600 the next and it just continued to grow.”
The business now sells safety equipment, workwear, leisurewear and personalised items via the online auction site, its own website and trade shop based at its factory unit.
It built up the stock by reinvesting the profits from each batch of items that were sold, rather than looking for finance from outside sources to grow the business.
Mr Morrell said: “There was no upfront investment. We worked from home for a year, then took over a small factory unit.”
He left his job at Nissan to concentrate solely on Safety-One, and three years after the business began, Mr Morrell is considering taking on additional premises to cope with demand.
The business has already outgrown one unit and is currently upgrading its phone systems at its base in Peterlee.
The purchase of an embroidery machine last year Mr Morrell has led Safety-One into the personalisation market, which is likely to play a large part in the business’s expansion this year.
Mr Morrell said: “We are looking to mover into print and promotional work. We are expanding all the time.
“Hopefully by the end of this year, I’m aiming to have a small unit just for the embroidery and printing and to open a second trade shop, hopefully in Redcar where my parents live.”
