My First Blog – 23rd March 2018

Here I am, a Friday afternoon trying to write my first ever blog. I’m a lover of lists, without a list to remind me what I need to do I get nothing done! At the top of the list and has been for the last 12 months “Start a Blog”!
Last night I attended a course about website and social media content and blogging was discussed, it was the final push I needed.
So here we go……..

Who Am I

My name is Paul Seager and I own SHN Training Services Ltd a safety training company offering first aid, fire safety, manual handling, food safety and health and safety courses. We are based in the beautiful county of Cumbria but will travel anywhere in the UK to deliver our courses.
Owning my own business has always been a dream of mine, I just didn’t know what type of business I wanted to set up.
I love fell walking, rugby league and a keen collector of whisky. I enjoy movies (I own too many Superman mugs) and was probably the last person on Earth to give Game of Thrones a try, Im now addicted!

Planting the Seed

When I was 19 years old I joined the Royal Air Force Fire and Rescue Service, a career I absolutely loved and would recommend to anyone, but it was never going to be a 20-year career for me. I met some great people, people I am still in touch with today and served in countries all over the world including the Falkland Islands, Iraq, Cyprus, and New Zealand. Part of the job was teaching fire safety to new recruits and here I believe the seed was planted. Teaching. I had toyed with the idea of becoming a preschool teacher but opted for the RAF.

When I left the RAF, I began a career working for the NHS as a Fire Safety Advisor, firstly in Newcastle upon Tyne before transferring back home to Cumbria. Family life was calling, I was getting married and children would follow. My wife is also from Cumbria and we wanted to raise a family back home where both of our families all lived. I now have two boys, Jack (2) and Samuel (6 weeks), they are my world and my inspiration. I want to build a successful company, show them how to work hard and carve out a career of their own. I need to set those foundations and be a good role model. No pressure!
I teach Paediatric First Aid which is a handy skill set to have when you have a 2-year-old whose slowest speed setting is a million miles an hour and who thinks electrical sockets are fun. Thank goodness family are on the doorstep!
It was working for the NHS that really pricked my interest in teaching. I would teach fire awareness, fire warden, evacuation and fire extinguisher courses to the staff and I loved designing training packages and delivering to such a variety of roles within the hospital. I could be teaching office staff fire extinguisher training one day then teaching surgeons how to evacuate an operating theatre with a patient under the knife the next. Here I was starting to think to myself, could I build a training company.

Taking the Jump

After years of teaching experience, qualifications in fire safety, health and safety, first aid and manual handling and a lengthy discussion with my wife I decided to take the jump.
I think taking the jump was easier than thinking of a company name! I settled on SHN Training Services Ltd, worked my notice and I was now my own boss (after Jack of course).
I wanted to offer professional, high quality training so set out to become a Qualsafe Awards recognised training provider allowing me to offer accredited training courses. I achieved this after just 6 months.

Do I regret it? Absolutely not. I love what I do, and I am very passionate about what I do. Yes, its hard work and yes, my working hours are now 24 hours a day, 7 days a week but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am striving to grow the company and have added food safety to our training portfolio and mental health first aid is coming soon.

I look forward to the future.

I hope I have pricked your interest and if you’re interested in first aid, fire safety, food safety, manual handling or health and safety then follow my blog.