A Manchester businessman who was made redundant as a result of the economic downturn has decided to put his money where his mouth is – by opening his own specialist consultancy company.
For the past ten years Simon Talbot (pictured) has been heading up a local authority specialist support unit, providing minerals and waste planning and contaminated land consultancy services for local authorities across the North West.
Due to the recession, Simon was made redundant earlier this year but, instead of focusing on the negative, he decided to grab the opportunity to set up his own business, Ground-Gas Solutions Limited.
Simon explained: “Opening my own business is something I have been thinking about for a long time and, while some might view redundancy as a set-back, I saw it is an opportunity to put my ideas into action.
“Having almost 25 years experience in the contaminated land sector, I was aware there was a niche in the market for a company which could provide continuous ground-gas monitoring on brownfield and former landfill sites.
“Ground-Gas Solutions will fill that gap as it has unique experience of using continuous ground-gas information that is exclusively provided by the Gasclam, an innovative gadget that can continuously monitor ground-gases such as methane and carbon dioxide.”
Developed by University of Manchester spin-off company, Salamander, the Gasclam is an award winning cylindrical monitor that fits inside a standard 50mm borehole where it can remain safely in the ground to monitor the gas concentration and flux.
Previously, ground-gas tended to be monitored on a sporadic basis with a consultant going to the site and taking a single measurement – Ground-Gas Solutions aim to change that thanks to its use of the Gasclam.
Simon continued: “Being able to continuously monitor ground-gases will help to substantially improve our understanding of the ground-gas regime at each site, giving the developer and site owner better quality information and more focused advice on what is happening, ultimately saving both time and money.
“As the data provided by the Gasclam is so reliable, the continuous monitoring approach it enables is being actively adopted by regulators, which means that Ground-Gas Solutions consultancy service is providing the data the regulators want to see.
“The landfill gas monitoring market is worth an estimated £200 million a year and, with Ground-Gas Solutions’ specialist expertise in using the Gasclam and my in-depth knowledge of the contaminated land sector, I hope to capture a significant proportion of that market within the first few years of trading,” Simon stated.
Simon is aiming his company, which is based at Manchester Science Park, at three main markets: local authorities or other landowners who have identified ground gas issues on a site, landfill operators wishing to surrender waste management licences and developers of brownfield land.
He believes the expertise and technology available at Ground-Gas Solutions will prove invaluable to each market, helping clients to assess the risks from ground gases as well as manage those gases for financial and environmental gain.
“As the UK company with the largest array of Gasclams and a commitment to stay at the forefront of new innovations in ground-gas monitoring through active links with the University of Manchester, I believe Ground-Gas Solutions has a bright future,” Simon concluded.
Find out more about Ground-Gas Solutions’ continuous ground-gas data capture and analysis service at www.ground-gassolutions.co.uk
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