Warwick safety engineering consultancy on global expansion drive after increase in safety recalls

A Midlands safety engineering consultancy is going for global growth as it looks to help countries around the world prioritise safety over low costs in their manufacturing after worldwide increases in safety recalls.

3SK, based at the Warwick Innovation Centre – part of the University of Warwick Science Park – works with a variety of automotive, aerospace, and other industries to either help them improve safety in their systems, or work with them to design a safe system from scratch.

Recent projects have included advancing the safety of autonomous vehicles at mining sites in Australia, through to designing safety features of a prototype electric passenger aircraft.

3SK was co-founded by Paul Darnell, Manoj Lad, and Gireesh Krishnan in 2018, working out of a small office at the Innovation Centre as part of the Science Park’s ‘Ignite’ incubation programme.

Since then, 3SK has doubled in size every two years, and now employs 15 people and has a sister company based in Bengaluru, India.

While it quickly established strong relations with UK-based companies and is growing well in India, it has recently won business in countries such as the USA, Canada, Spain and France.

It is now looking to grow its presence with companies in these countries, while also playing a key role in helping new overseas markets transition away from a priority on cost-saving towards incorporating safety features in a range of industries as safety-related recalls have been on the rise.

Paul Darnell, co-founder at 3SK, said: “As competition in many industries has intensified, the pressure to deliver quick results that pay is stronger than ever.

“A clear example would be in the automotive industry. Safety-related recalls of vehicles have significantly increased in the last five years, despite safety standards having generally increased.

"The increasing complexity of modern cars, including electric and autonomous technology, challenging global competition, and pressure to get products to market in shorter timescales is resulting in more safety issues that result in expensive recalls.

“This not only damages a firm’s bottom line, but their reputation too.

“What we are seeing now in overseas markets such as in Asia is lower tolerance for poor safety among customers. For many years, everything was about price.

“But now, customers in these markets are willing to pay more for safer, more reliable products. This has resulted in more demand for safety solutions, and we want to help realise that.”

3SK is now actively recruiting for new safety engineers as it looks to fulfil its global growth goals, and has not ruled out expanding further within the Innovation Centre to accommodate this.

Manoj Lad, co-founder at 3SK, added: “It’s amazing to think how far we’ve come since we first moved into our first incubation office at the Warwick Innovation Centre. We’re now on our fourth office here, and we probably won’t stop there.

“With rapid advancements in a variety of technologies, such as autonomous vehicles and delivery drones, the safety of these technologies will be crucial to their take-up.

“If we can play our part in ensuring they are as safe as they can be, we’ll be on track to double in size once again, and we want talented individuals to join us as we do this.”

Jane Talbot, centre manager at Warwick Innovation Centre, said: “3SK has incredible ambitions, and we’ve been able to assist them since day one to get to where they are now.

“We regularly enable successful companies based here to grow within the centre, allowing them to keep the relationships they’ve forged with fellow companies and the university instead of moving away.

“We’re excited to see just how much 3SK can grow, and we will be there to support them along that journey.”