Three businesses demonstrated just how diverse the maritime sector is when they addressed Mersey Maritime’s August Face-2-Face event.
Despite the recent opening up COVID remains an issue and so this was a hybrid even with members attending in person at the Mersey Maritime headquarters in Birkenhead and online via Zoom.
DGB Solicitors
First up was Debbie Black who spoke about how the COVID-19 pandemic had ushered in a new era of collaboration between businesses.
DGB is one of a number of companies making us a body called the Do Good Business Collective. Members come from a range of sectors including professional services, IT, training, property constancy and data security.
“The Do Good Business Collective is a team of owner-managed businesses who are all experts in their particular fields,” said Debbie. “We all provide joined-up quality professional services.
“COVID has been both energy-sapping and financially worrying for businesses. But now we are starting to look forward and many of us have been forced to modernise our working practices. An increase in collaboration has been a great part of that.”
DGB is an award-winning law firm based in Birkenhead and its clients range from start-ups to well-established businesses. The practice is LEXEL accredited (Law Society kit mark) and is among the top 17% of law firms.
It offers a range of services, including commercial legal advice, litigation drafting of documents and business risk management. Dispute resolution is a speciality and Debbie said their aim is always to try to settle business disputes before litigation is needed.
She added: “We believe in early-stage legal advice for our clients. We can sit behind the scenes and give them the correct technical advice that will allow them to settle disputes themselves.
“I am also passionate about risk management. We want to help clients avoid, reduce and manage risks in their businesses. We will make sure we stress test their systems. The difference between theory and what happens in reality can be significant.”
Real Sphere Eco World
Over the past 18 months the pandemic has reminded us of is the importance of hygiene. We also want to live in a cleaner, more sustainable world and Real Sphere Eco World, also based in Wirral, ticks both boxes.
It is a developer, manufacturer, distributor and retailer of a range of environmentally-friendly cleaning and sanitising products. The company was formed in 2019 and one of its biggest customers is the global superyacht sector.
Director Paul Griffiths said: “Myself and the other partners in the business all have backgrounds in the maritime and superyacht sectors. Plastic reduction is at the core of our goals. Our rivers and oceans are choking at the volumes of these discarded consumables.
“All the partners in this company have shared the oceans in our professional lives and have witnessed this global disaster first-hand while serving on-board and we aim to do our bit. Our motto is ‘protection starts with prevention’.”
Real Sphere’s offers a range of eco-friendly, biodegradable cleaning and sanitising products designed to meet specific requirements. All the product development and as much of the manufacturing as possible is carried out in Wirral.
One of its leading range of products, manufactured in Bromborough, is OCCIDERE. It uses a non-alcohol based formula with a proven efficacy of 30 seconds against many viruses including COVID-19. With its focus on the maritime sector, the firm provides refillable systems as well as recyclable containers and packaging.
Paul added: “Currently we are working with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the University of Liverpool who are conducting multiple tests on new products. These have attained some very positive results leading to interest from several blue chip companies.
“As well as working around the world we have also been doing our bit during the pandemic by supplying free products to local shops and cafes to help them keep their businesses open.”
Blackinetix
Real-time and detailed monitoring and analysis of industrial machinery has become a vital tool for businesses looking to increase their efficiency and productivity.
Giuseppe Calderaro of Blackinetix was the third presenter at the event. Blackinetix has developed an Industry 4.0 toolkit for small and medium enterprises which offers real-time monitoring of industrial assets. It started in March 2018 and worked with the University of Liverpool.
“We use augmented virtual reality,” said Giuseppe. “These are analytical tools that provide data that gives an insight into how the machine is really working. We customise the solution to address the exact needs and problems for the customers.
“The dashboard that we provide is completely customisable and they can build their own personalised view. We can also provide separate logins and levels of access for people within the organisation so they only see the parts of the operation they need to.
“The dashboard contains all the data you need to understand how a piece of machinery is performing. And we are integrating more and more things into it.”
