FEATURE
‘ The Lighthouse Alliance ’ will help firms negotiate shipping industry ’ s ever-changing workforce waters
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON PICTURES : TOM BANKS
It ’ s not always smooth sailing in the maritime industry – especially when it comes to workforce issues . From recruiting the right people to HR and health and safety matters , there ’ s plenty to navigate .
But a new body based on Teesside aims to be a “ one-stop shop ” for those in the shipping and maritime industry needing assistance with one or all of those key issues .
The Lighthouse Alliance comprises three specialists in their fields . But by pooling their resources , they provide , under one umbrella , comprehensive support and solutions for the shipping and maritime industry across the areas of recruitment , human resources and health and safety .
The three members of the Lighthouse family are :
HR Alchemy – established in 2017 by MD Jo Davies , from a base on Yarm High Street , they look after more than 160 clients from maritime and shipping , manufacturing to hospitality , education to tech and digital – as well as a well-known local “ dragon ” from TV show Dragon ’ s Den !
Elite Consult Group – a niche recruitment hiring business wholly focused on “ lighthousing ” great talent in the global shipping trade . While their HQ is anchored in the Tees Valley , Elite has the capacity to cover all major UK port locations and hire into senior leadership roles all over the world .
Kaizen Safety – guided by the Japanese business philosophy of Kaizen , meaning “ continuous improvement ” – is Tees Valleybased but provides advice nationally in relation to health and safety , environmental management and fire safety by completing fire risk assessment ’ s for businesses to ensure they are legally compliant . Kaizen provide their services to a wide range of sectors and industries .
All three are separate clients of Teesbased Casper Group – one of the country ’ s longest-established and most trusted maritime and shipping specialists .
And when Casper MD Michael Shakesheff suggested the three individual firms teamed up to form one team , the Lighthouse Alliance voyage began in earnest .
Just a few months down the line , branding has been established , a website has gone live and interest is coming in from firms eager to know what the Lighthouse Alliance can do for them .
According to Michael , formation of the alliance – with its reassuring “ Always Safe Shores ” tagline – made perfect sense .
He explained : “ We were using these three companies independently . They were all offering excellent parallel services that , when combined , made it almost a one-stop shop outsource for us .
“ When I asked around , lots of companies like Casper had the same issue . They ’ d say , for example , ‘ We have a great HR adviser but we ’ re struggling with recruitment and HSE .’ I just thought ‘ Wouldn ’ t it be brilliant for these three to work together to raise the profile and professional levels ?’
“ When you look at the market , you often either had national organisations promising the world but with no platform or bespoke service , or smaller ones that weren ’ t giving a rounded service . Here , we have three business owners who are incredibly passionate about their companies and the sectors they work in .”
“ We ’ re building an alliance , but we ’ re also building friendships and good working relationships .”
Jo Davies says the process of starting the alliance began around six months ago – and already , the benefits shine like a beacon .
She said : “ The three business services we have – recruitment , HR and HSE – generally tend to be referral partners anyway because the nature of our business involves people . If you ’ re looking for people services , you ’ ll need at least one of us , so it ’ s great to have an offering to make to an employer that covers all of that people sector .
“ We meet regularly and are really passionate about making this work . We ’ ve created our brand , so we have an identity all three of us have bought into . For people not sure where to turn , we ’ ve used the line ‘ Always Safe Shores ’ – we ’ re driving people to use our professional services through a recognised and trusted alliance .
“ We ’ re building an alliance , but we ’ re also building friendships and good working relationships .”
Emma Cranie had been working with Casper since 2016 , but set up Elite Consult in 2019 .
On being one-third of the Lighthouse Alliance , she said : “ All our strong ethical values align perfectly so it seemed like a great opportunity to go forward alongside each other .”
Kaizen Safety ’ s Kieran Durham , who is also an HSE consultant for Casper , agrees . He said : “ The aim is to bring in more clients , prove credibility and secure a niche in the market because of what all three companies offer .”
And Michael Shakesheff , while stressing Casper is “ nothing other than a customer ”, says he was delighted to have helped the three get together .
He said : “ Getting people , retaining them and keeping them safe continues to be the biggest challenge for businesses .
“ I want these guys to succeed because I believe there are lots of other Casper Shippings out there that can really benefit – they may have one of the three providers but I ’ ll bet they don ’ t have all three .
“ All the businesses are very scalable too . They ’ re already incredibly busy so this will mean additional work coming their way , but they ’ re geared up for it .
“ Casper is nothing other than a customer . We ’ re using all three companies as an outsourced service for us and it ’ s brilliant in terms of cost-effectiveness and the level of service we get .”
However , Jo admits that having support from such a big player as Casper Group is extremely welcome .
She said : “ We ’ re all about providing trusted , local services from three independents rather than from big national organisations where the level of service can be poor . And to be endorsed by a big company like Casper is hugely valuable in terms of driving three local businesses further . Michael says he hasn ’ t come across anything like this within the industry so for us , it could be really significant .
“ We ’ ll be popping up at exhibitions and maritime shipping events in the next few months to help get the word out that we ’ re on the start of what hopefully will be a very exciting journey .”
Visit thelighthousealliance . co . uk Email hello @ thelighthousealliance . co . uk
The voice of business in the Tees region | 93