Business spotlight – Q&A

David Jamieson, Salus Technical founder

What does your company do?

Salus Technical works with customers to help them understand and manage the risks of major accidents, in a bid to prevent these occurring and continually improve the safety of the industry.

We offer three complementary services: process safety engineering support, a range of tailored and on-demand training courses, and Bowtie Master – our online software package which allows customers to visualise their risks and communicate them with their team.

What do you do there / what is your role?

I founded Salus Technical and work as a Process Safety Engineer, providing support to our customers

If you started the company, what was the aha moment that led to the company founding?

There was no one moment, but I have always wanted to build my own business and software. I just thought, what better way to do that than in the industry I have been working in for the past decade.

Where did you get assistance when you started?

The first thing I did was take part in the Grey Matters accelerator ran by Elevator. I’m so glad I did this as I learned so many valuable skills and made many connections.

Give us a brief history of the growth of the company

Throughout 2019 and 2020, we have grown steadily on the consulting side and in November 2020, launched our first software product, Bowtie Master.

Have you taken any external funding? If so from who and when?

We have received funding from Aberdeenshire Council and from the Scottish Government via Digital Boost that has helped with the development of software.

So, what does it look like now with regard to staff and turnover?

At present there is only me as the full-time member of staff but I do have a number of associates who support the business. With Bowtie Master now having launched, I hope we can take on our first full-time member of staff in the new year. Our turnover for the current financial year looks set to be just below £100K.

What’s the difference between when you started and now in your marketplace?

The pandemic has transformed that way the safety profession operates. Many of the techniques we used required face-to-face contact, something that we can no longer do. This has meant moving to a remote business model, which has been challenging.

What is your target market – Who is buying your product / service?

Our target market is major hazard industries such as oil and gas and petrochemical. Our product Bowtie Master helps our customers understanding and manage their risks. We are increasingly seeing enquiries from other industries such as cyber security and finance.

What is your background?

My degree was in Aeronautical Engineering. I spent several seasons in Motorsport Aerodynamics before joining the oil and gas industries, where I modelled gas dispersion and fire and explosions. This led me into offshore safety, where I have been working ever since.

What are your goals for the business?

My vision is that with Salus, we help to prevent major accidents from occurring and do so by having a great team who build great products and offer high-quality support and training.

What are your biggest current challenges?

Working alone, particularly during our launch period, was difficult. I would certainly have liked to have launched with a partner. However, hopefully in the new year we can begin to expand the team.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

The pandemic led to the cancellation of some projects I was supporting. However, I responded by getting creative: I fast-tracked the development of Bowtie Master, and started offering remote Process Safety training, which we have provided to over 500 people to date.

What do you do outside work?

I’m kept busy with a young family, and have recently started learning the guitar. I enjoy running and swimming and entered the Scottish championship for aquathon last year. I was delighted to qualify for my age group for Team GB in the European Championships. Unfortunately, that event was cancelled but I hope to qualify for the next event.

What do you know now that you wished you had known earlier?

Everything takes much longer than you think.

What is the secret to good leadership?

Lead by example. It’s not all about what you say, it’s about the actions that you take.

Where do you see the company in five years?

I hope we have a business built around a portfolio of value-adding software products, training courses and engineering services, employing about five people.

How can the Scottish start-up/entrepreneur landscape be improved to help more businesses start up and grow?

I am very grateful for the support I have received. An improvement would be to make some of the initiatives for support and funding more visible as at times, as some have been hard to find.