Meet the Team

Will Deverill started First Order Red in 2004 with the vision of building an asbestos consultancy built on the foundations of knowledge, quality and honesty. Six years on, First Order Red is a multi award winning, innovative company with a reputation for delivering 'no nonsense' asbestos management services.

Like many people working in asbestos management, Will didn't start his career in occupational hygiene. From a young age, Will got a taste for business watching his mum build one of the East Midlands largest independent computer firms in the 1980's and 1990's.

"I didn't realise it when I was growing up but having the managing director of a successful business as a mum had a huge impact on my life," admits Will. "Building a business was 'normal' in our family, so starting First Order Red was just a logical step to take."

After finishing school, Will travelled north to Stirling University to study 'Environmental Science' amongst the lochs and glens of Scotland. After completing his first degree he made his way back to Nottingham to indulge his love of technology by completing a Master of Science in 'Information Technology' at Nottingham University.

"After my MSc, I wasn't sure what to do next," recalls Will. "I was looking for a career where I could use my science and technology knowledge without being stuck in an office all day, but above all I needed a job to pay the bills!"

It was at this point that Will 'happened' into asbestos management. He was offered a trainee post with an asbestos consultancy where he quickly found an affinity for the pragmatic world of occupational hygiene.

"I immediately took to asbestos project management", says Will. "I've always been a fairly practical person and in asbestos management I found a natural home. To manage asbestos effectively, particularly when you're on site, you need to have a complete grasp of the regulations, a keen understanding of the science but above all you need to be able to find practical, achievable solutions to the everyday problems you'll encounter."

With this instinctive understanding of what was needed to manage asbestos risks effectively Will rapidly achieved a succession of British Occupational Hygiene Society qualifications culminating in a CCP (asbestos). He spent several years as an asbestos manager in the public sector before finally deciding to start his own asbestos consultancy.

"As an asbestos manager I was constantly frustrated by the variable quality of surveyors and analysts being offered to me," says Will. "I was an experienced surveyor and analyst myself and I would visit sites that were being run or surveyed badly. I was frustrated by the knowledge that people were accepting the quality of service being offered as OK when it clearly wasn't. So one day I thought I can do this better and First Order Red was born."

From modest beginnings in a rented room at the back of a local business in Mansfield, Will and the management team who joined him, have built First Order Red's business by delivering exactly what Will was looking for as a professional asbestos manager. Quality asbestos management services delivered in a professional, competent and above all honest way.

To talk to Will or any of the First Order Red team about the asbestos management challenges you face, why not give us a ring on 0845 8800350.

Meet the Team

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