The whole team at asbestos consultancy Acorn Analytical Services was over the moon to walk away with not one, but two awards at the prestigious Northamptonshire SME Awards earlier this month.
Directors Neil Munro, Paul Knights and Sam Savage were in Daventry for the event which celebrates the work of businesses across Northamptonshire and their incredible achievements.
Needless to say, we were overwhelmed to win the High Growth Award and the Overall Award in recognition of the team’s hard work and dedication throughout the past year. We will now go through to the National SME Awards taking place in Wembley later this year.
Another important year for Acorn
This recognition has rounded off an important year for Acorn, having cemented its reputation as one of the biggest consultancies in the UK, supporting clients in all four nations.
We are incredibly grateful too for the opportunity to use our success to spread the word about the dangers of asbestos and the threat it poses to all of us – after 10 years in business the work we do is perhaps more important now than ever.
As well as supporting our clients – who are largely businesses, local authorities, hospitals and schools – in practical ways with surveys and information about asbestos management – we are absolutely determined to use our platform to raise awareness among the general public and ultimately help to save lives.
Asbestos: A clear and present danger
No longer is it enough to think about asbestos as a problem of the past or mesothelioma – the cancer caused by exposure to this dangerous material – as a disease which only affects old men.
Asbestos is here and all around us and it is a significant threat to all of us, regardless of age, sex or ethnicity.
An article by the news organisation Al Jazeera is particularly striking.
In it, Helen Bone who is just 40, describes being diagnosed with mesothelioma as ‘a big injustice.’
In the article she says she suspects she was exposed to asbestos at school, as a patient in hospital or later during her work as a nurse. Living in Middlesbrough – the centre of the UK’s steel and shipbuilding industry for generations – rates of mesothelioma are among the highest in the country.
She said: “At work, I was always the one fixing the tiles, or drilling a hole in the wall, so it doesn’t surprise me that I got diagnosed.”
Take action now
Sadly, people in the UK hugely underestimate the risk asbestos poses and routinely carry about renovations or repair work on offices and buildings without really giving it a second thought.
This is where awareness of asbestos is key – something everyone at Acorn Analytical Services is absolutely passionate about.
Before even thinking about any kind of building work consider two things:
- Was my building built before 1999?
- Do I know if it contains asbestos?
If you’re building was built before 1999 you need to get it checked for asbestos. Similarly, if you have never had a survey carried out by a trained, UKAS accredited asbestos consultant – book one in today.
Accidental damage, which has the potential to release toxic fibres into the air, is one of the biggest risk factors when it comes to asbestos so getting checked should always be at the top of your checklist.
Acorn is a professional asbestos consultancy helping organisations deal with compliance using surveys, air testing, and removal management.
Please call one of the team, or use the online form to obtain your free quotation. If you would like further information or advice on asbestos training, contact the team on 0844 818 0895 or Contact Us
