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Alec Smith on asbestos consultancy, the world of property and more.

By Alec Smith

Managing Director of Artisan Environmental

There aren’t many asbestos consultancies that start in the back of a van – but Alec Smith, fresh from university and a 3-month trip across the world with his partner, would find his first step into his future career in a French van on the South Coast.

After pairing up his expertise with entrepreneurship, he founded Artisan Environmental.

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Academically, Alec’s background is in Life Sciences and biology. From college through to University in Essex, he had found a way to put his love for the outdoors and the sea into his education.

On his Marine Biology course, he’d meet his wife. University flew by, and after flying across the world together, it was time to get working. Not quite the scuba diving and oceanic exploration he’d imagined in his head, he found himself back in Southampton as a project manager based in Fawley.

Installing and managing acoustic fish deterrent systems across the South coast, he’d get to see the sea – but not much more. After a year, he went to work with an agency and found a way into asbestos analytical work including air testing, removals and more.

Realising there was a market for the service, but that he could pair his environmental expertise with it, Artisan was born.

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"In my first asbestos consultancy role, I had a lab in the back of a van that would travel across the coast with me. I would drive to sites to carry out 4-stage clearance monitoring at the tail end of their asbestos removal work, to clear the job off and give them the go-ahead to take down the enclosure. When I realised I could do asbestos consultancy, and offer my own advice from an environmental perspective too, my entrepreneurial mind began to kick in…"

Alec Smith, Managing Director of Artisan Environmental

Launching in 2005, Artisan was a boutique asbestos consultancy that had a small team of 4 and was nicely ticking along. A great customer base, no sales or marketing, just word of mouth and repeating work.

Their service covers surveying, analysing, reporting and training around asbestos. They also project manage removals where required.

Mainly they partner with developers, investors, architects, surveyors and the construction industry as a whole, being the #1 advisor for asbestos-related queries, which you need to get right first time.

Their client base has grown to include big portfolios such as private colleges and schools, highstreet chains, as well as Netflix, working across UK studios and providing consultancy, surveys and inspections.

"Put simply, our job is to help customers feel confident in their safety, removing pain and risk from their day-to-day operations. Importantly, they’re comfortable too, knowing they’re compliant with the ever-growing list of legislation they have to adhere to."

Alec Smith, Managing Director of Artisan Environmental

Alongside Artisan, Alec was being creative and thinking about new ideas. He found his way into the property world and was converting offices into houses, gutting and rebuilding properties and using his knowledge from Artisan to make the process even easier and more profitable.

After many successful projects, he realised scaling Artisan was a challenge he was avoiding. It was time to grow. He invested in a growth strategy in 2018 and began implementing it… then came the pandemic.

As with most businesses, it was a struggle, and a great deal of the business loan he’d intended on using to grow was used up. The team regrouped, won back their base of work and waited out the pandemic.

Within the three years since the height of the pandemic, Artisan has enacted its growth strategy and extended its service from solely asbestos to health and safety risk management. The company rebranded into Artisan Environmental to match this change and as a result, has onboarded bigger clients that have led to continued growth ever since.

Artisan Environmental continues to grow, with the team of experts now at 9.

"There aren’t enough specialists who understand beyond just asbestos and it’s removal. Our USP is our property experience and understanding of investing in the right surveys at the right time. We know what consultancy a business needs, and when. Getting it wrong will incur financial penalties and can delay projects or slow down your processes. We make sure you get it right."

Alec Smith, Managing Director of Artisan Environmental

Artisan has recently begun building out and repurposing their internal client management portal to create a SaaS product for use across industries far beyond asbestos consultancy. Alec and the team are in the early stages of development but believe their custom-built portal is a factor in their success, and want others to see the benefits too.

Alongside the continued development of Artisan Environmental, Alec has founded Partners In Coffee with his business partner.

After having a couple of mobile locations that were becoming a household name in local towns and villages, they’ve recently opened their first permanent coffee shop in Boorley Green, called Gather. Within only a matter of months, they’ve built a fantastic local community of coffee lovers, who prefer a speciality blend to what they’ll find on the high street.

Spark a conversation

Outside of the office, Alec’s priorities are his family, fitness and property. A keen gym goer, cyclist and snowboarder, he doesn’t do his sport by halves.

Alec has had a long-term interest in cryptocurrency and blockchain – so if you’ve got a portfolio, a conversation is essential.

The best piece of business advice that’s helped Alec

“Empower your staff and learn to delegate to people who can do certain jobs better than you, and have the time to do them.”

It’s with this guidance that I’ve been able to focus on my own priorities, keep growing Artisan and set the stage to grow even further in the years ahead.

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