In 2016, Mark Weaver and Simon Mealor left senior sales roles at one of the UK’s largest height safety companies, rented a small two-person office on the Wirral, and started Altus Safety. Between them they had nearly 40 years in the industry.
In sales, they were close enough to clients to know what kept going wrong. Kit not on site. Access not arranged. Certification slow to arrive. Operational failures that damaged the client relationship but were never theirs to fix.
Altus’ first job was twelve metres of guardrail for a construction firm. A small job. But it was theirs, delivered the way they intended to deliver everything that followed.
Built on delivery
Before starting Altus, Mark and Simon knew exactly what clients needed: equipment on site when it should be, access arranged, work completed on time, clients to be kept informed of what was happening, and to have their certification in hand when it was done.
From the beginning, Altus was built around those things. Getting it right. Showing up prepared and being easy to deal with. That became the foundation of everything the business is, and ten years on it still runs through it.
“We built Altus on not letting customers down. That was the whole thing at the beginning. Do the job well, be in control of every aspect of the operation, and be easy to work with.” Mark Weaver, Director.
The job that put Altus on the map
There have been plenty of milestones along the way, but one stands out. Hinkley Point C is the UK’s first new nuclear power station in a generation and one of the largest construction projects in Europe. Altus won the contract there against established national competitors, beating them to deliver what was at the time one of the most significant permanent roof access and fall protection contracts of its kind in the UK.
“That was the one that changed things. It told us we could compete with anyone, on any project. After Hinkley we started being considered for a completely different level of work.” Simon Mealor, Director.
What Altus does today
Today, clients work with Altus throughout the life of their fall protection and roof access systems. That starts with design and installation, whether a single anchor point or a complex guardrail and walkway system across a large roof, and continues through annual inspection, testing, remedial work and certification.
A lot of the work comes from buildings where systems are already in place, installed by another contractor, sometimes years ago. Altus takes those on, carries out the inspection and testing, and picks up the ongoing compliance from there. For building owners and facilities managers juggling multiple sites and contractors, one company that knows the systems and holds the records removes a layer of complexity from their operations.
Altus is still independently owned and not tied to any manufacturer, which means systems and solutions are specified on the basis of the building, the work being carried out and the client’s long-term requirements.
Ten years, and counting
The business has grown at around 20% a year since 2016. The growth has been organic, built through repeat work, referrals and new clients.
Ask Mark and Simon what they would do differently, and the answer is not what you might expect.
“We would have stopped more. Celebrated the wins a bit more. When you are building something you just keep going, and you do not always take stock of what you have achieved. We are doing that now.”
This post is part of that.
To every client who has trusted us with their buildings, every supplier who has backed us, and everyone who has been part of Altus over the last ten years: thank you.
Here’s to the next ten.