Health and safety developer Bramhope Group has enjoyed double-digit growth during the past three years and attri- butes this success to its continuous innovation through a culture of learning.

The company is moving beyond a focus on the traditional product and service categories of innovation to include business processes, distribution, value chains and business models, which, it says, have never before been seen in the South African occupational health, safety and hygiene industry.

“We believe that innovation within a learning culture is more than simply generating new ideas and hiring smarter people. Innovation is about doing things differently. It is about challenging the status quo. Innovation cannot be fostered in a culture where learning is not a prio- rity. For Bramhope, it is about obtaining, creating and applying innovations to, ultimately, create more value for our customers,” says Bramhope CEO Isak Marais.

The company claims it has an unrivalled position in the South African occupational health, safety and hygiene industry, as, despite a small group of full-time employees, it has established a “momentous network” of business partners, suppliers, contractors, consultants and industry peers.

Established Network

Bramhope’s business partners are like-minded companies with which the company has long-term partnership agreements in place. These business partners promote and sell Bramhope’s products and solutions to their customers. This gives Bramhope an expanded product range, as well as new markets in which to sell, without having to invest further capital for developing new capabilities and/or employing additional human resources.

“These employees are our ears and eyes on the ground. We learn from them and we adapt according to the ‘signals’ we receive from industry,” Marais says.

Consultants are also part of Bramhope’s network and allow it to generate, test and replicate a large number of innovative ideas faster, at lower costs and with less risk than its competitors. Bramhope says its network of information technology, marketing, financial, human resources and business management consul- tants are able to generate new ideas and complete tasks required in hours.

Bramhope’s collaboration with educational institutions started several years ago and has since delivered “remarkable” results, says the company. The University of Johannesburg is partnering with Bramhope to not only provide relevant and practical curricula for its students but also to give these students the opportunity to gain prac- tical experience through internship programmes developed by Bramhope.

Kedge Business School, the largest business school in France, recently joined the Bramhope network of educational partners.

Another aspect of Bramhope’s network is its customers, the number of which the company says is currently growing across all sectors - mainly representing the retail, construction, manufacturing, food processing, services and mining industries. Owing to the Bramhope network, its customer base has grown substantially and, according to Marais, the group has only reached 5% of its potential customer base.

“At Bramhope, we recognise the importance of forging strong relationships with our suppliers. It goes beyond just a simple purchasing transaction. It is a commitment between two companies to the benefit of both. We look at our global network of suppliers for assurance of world-class compliance and the highest standards of quality to provide the best possible products and solutions for our customers,” affirms Marais.

Suppliers are critical partners and play a vital role in the creation of innovative solutions, states Bramhope, which is currently establishing a development trust as a strategic investment that will be based on community impact.

“The development trust will become a 51% shareholder in the group with the objective to support the sustainable socioeconomic empowerment of vulnerable communities in South Africa as part of our broad-based black economic empowerment imperative. Our focus is very much on the sustainability of com- munities, the development of the youth and creating and stimulating a culture of innovation among students,” Marais explains.