Lynne Webster Consultancy

A Leeds cleaning consultancy is polishing up its services for the international market with the support of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).

Lynn Webster Consultancy is just five years old, although managing director, Lynn Webster, has been involved in the cleaning industry for more than 30 years.

The company’s services include direct delivery training, independent cleaning performance auditing for retail, healthcare, education and the hospitality sectors and management consultancy for the cleaning industry as a whole.

Lynn said: “At the most basic level our training services teach people working within cleaning, both in-house and contracted-out services, how to clean properly. However, there is a lot more to the cleaning industry than this, and the nuts and bolts (or mops and buckets) of the business can be quite technical. At an advisory level, our management consultancy services provide detailed written specifications, or service level agreements for best value, as well as evaluation of tenders and technical support consultancy to the procurement process.

“As independent auditors we have a responsibility to go into public buildings and check that cleaning services are provided as specified. This can be crucial in environments such as hospitals, schools and food stores, where maintaining high levels of cleanliness is paramount.”

In 2007 Lynn joined the ‘Forward Ladies’ overseas trade mission to Hong Kong. Jointly funded by Yorkshire Forward and UKTI, the trip saw 14 Yorkshire business women testing the waters for business opportunities in the Far East.

Lynn added: “The Hong Kong trip really opened my eyes as to how my own company might provide expertise and services overseas. While there, we were helped by the UK Trade & Investment team based at the British Consulate General and I had two key meetings with possible business partners including the Institute of Hospitality and Hong Kong health service representatives.

“Once we returned to the UK, I started to explore some of the other export support services provided by UK Trade & Investment. That’s how I met my international trade adviser, Melanie Potts, who met with me and talked through some of the options available as a would-be exporter. As a first step, I signed up to the Passport to Export programme where I discovered a lot more support for my export ventures.

“It was funding from the Passport programme that got me out to one of the biggest international trade shows for the cleaning industry, ‘Interclean’ in Amsterdam in 2008. Whilst there I made some key contacts such as a number of cleaning suppliers looking for the kind of support services that my company offers.

“I now see that both the Hong Kong trip and the Passport to Export training were great confidence building tools allowing me to see the possibilities beyond Britain. They were not only good training grounds but also fantastic networking forums allowing me to meet a range of other companies with similar export ambitions to my own and that’s been very motivating.”

“I am now developing contacts in India, a market that could be particularly interesting for the kind of services my consultancy offers. As a start I have been commissioned to write an article for a major trade journal for the cleaning industry there and with possible opportunities to visit similar training facilities in the future.”

Melanie Potts is an international trade adviser for UKTI in the West Yorkshire area.

Melanie said: “At first glance, the Lynn Webster Consultancy may not appear an obvious business for export, but along with legal and financial, PR and IT services, companies like Lynn’s are now seeing a growth in interest from overseas clients. It won’t happen overnight, but we look forward to helping Lynn expand her international business potential with a range of export support solutions.

For further information on this company please visit www.lynnwebster.co.uk.