Rapid growth for VMI Safety

WORKWEAR and protective equipment supplier VMI Safety, launched a year ago, is well on its way to hitting its £1m turnover target.

The business was set up by husband and wife team Ben and Helen Robinson from their garage at home in July but by November last year the company moved to a 12,000 sq ft warehouse in Wakefield to meet demand.

VMI supplies personal protective equipment, janitorial, safety wear, logo work wear tools and first aid equipment to clients including Symphony Kitchens in Barnsley and waste recycling firm WRD Group, based in Rotherham.

Robinson said moving away from the food manufacturing market and focusing more on the waste recycling sector has proved lucrative for the fledgling business.

“When we took the jump to launch the business it was a big step, and things don’t always work the way you think they will at first,” he said. “But by October business just boomed and we were winning more and more work from the waste recycling market, work which just keeps on coming.”

Robinson predicts that turnover next year will reach £2m, as the company looks forward to tendering for major contracts later this year, the imminent launch of a new website and its first catalogue launch in August.

VMI employs five staff but said it is currently recruiting to meet demand.