Where It All Started
Every business has a beginning, and here’s ours!
Before the courses, the trainers, the Simulation Centre and the journeys across the UK and beyond, there was simply an idea; to make first aid and emergency care training feel different and more engaging.
In this edition we’re going to take you back to where it all started, share some of the moments that have shaped In Safe Hands Training, and look at how we’ve grown along the way.
So, let’s go back to the beginning…
Where it all started.
It’s hard to believe what is In Safe Hands Training now, started with little more than an idea.
Back in 2006, Tim one of our founding directors decided to leave the military, taking with him a wealth of experience and a real passion for teaching and inspiring others. During his time in the military, he developed a keen interest in the medical side of his role and enjoyed passing his knowledge on to others. But what came next was something completely different. The idea of starting a training company had already began taking shape. Around six months before leaving the military, work had begun behind the scenes-from putting together leaflets, creating a logo and thinking about what the business could and would eventually become.
And then came the name. In Safe Hands Training.
The name was actually suggested by Tim’s dad, and from there, things slowly started to become a reality. There was equipment to buy, a laptop to get, a van to put on the road and perhaps most importantly, clients to find. The first year of In Safe Hands was very much about balancing the books. There was no big office, no large team and certainly no fancy training centre. The business was being built from the ground up, one client at a time.
Some of those early days involved something that might sound almost unimaginable now…. Calling from the Yellow Pages. Leaflets were produced and handed out, businesses were contacted and every opportunity mattered.
At the home of Tim and Liz, the spare bedroom became the office. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was the beginning, and slowly, things started to change. After the first year, the van was sign written. The business began gaining approvals and recognition by the Health and Safety Executive and In Safe Hands Training was becoming established as an independent training company in Cornwall. By 2009, the business was growing; new team members were introduced such as our director Liz. Then a little later came Lisa (also known as the oracle), someone who everyone comes to love, keeps everything and everyone in line
It didn’t take long for Lisa to make her mark! Alongside keeping things organised, she also had to keep an eye on Tim, who soon discovered that not everything in the house was there for the taking. One day, Tim came across Lisa’s lemon yoghurt and caramel digestives and, without giving it a second thought, tucked in. Checking whose food, it was first? That small but important detail had somehow slipped his mind! Lisa didn’t say anything to Tim directly. Instead, she quietly reported the snack theft to Liz, who was more than happy to have a word with him!
Tim may have thought he’d got away with his little raid, but he soon learned that Lisa had a direct line to Liz and that helping yourself to someone else’s treats could land you in hot water!
It’s these little moments that become part of a team’s history. After all, working together means sharing plenty of things, but apparently Lisa’s lemon yoghurt and caramel digestives weren’t among them! As the team grew, so did the memories, the laughter and the everyday moments that make a workplace feel like something more than just a business. Looking back, its these milestones that really show how far In Safe Hands Training has come. From working out a spare bedroom at home to becoming something much bigger.
By around 2010-2011, the business had grown enough to start looking for its first proper premises-this time with something that would be incredibly important….
A dedicated training room.
At around the five-year mark, there was a feeling that this really could become something bigger. In Safe Hands Training was beginning to look a little less like a business run from a spare bedroom- and a lot more like the company we know today and at the time, we probably couldn’t have imagined just how far that would take us…
But this was only the beginning
Stay tuned for part 2, where we’ll continue the story and look at how those early foundations helped In Safe Hands Training grow into the business it is today- coming after the festivities of Christmas and New Years.
