A close focus on Close Focus
Founded by Frank Given, Close Focus Limited is a Northern Ireland-based consultancy service that works with businesses across Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.
Our role is to help entrepreneurs like you to reach new international customers through rigorous market research and carefully planned sales development strategies. In tandem with this, we also help to improve your operational efficiency, enhance your sustainability, and minimise your environmental impact.
Where is YOUR Focus?
Frank is our Principal Consultant. He is actively engaged with our local trade development bodies and is engaged as an InterTrade Ireland Approved Provider on their Brexit Advisory Service, Elevate Cross Border Trade Programmes, Go 2 Tender Programmes.
Frank also works as a business mentor across a number of Local Council Business Growth and Support Programmes, including; Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council (Optimal and ASK Programmes), Belfast City Council (Business Enterprise Framework), Mid an East Antrim Amplify and Spark Programmes, Derry City and Strabane District Council (BIG Programme) and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (Business Growth and Tender For Growth Procurement Programmes), and is a consultant on Co Louth and Co Sligo Green For Micro programmes.
We help clients with a combination of Business Growth, Export Readiness, Green Strategy, Regulatory Compliance, and Public Sector Tendering amongst others.
Frank and his team combine their experience and knowledge of commercial and technical development with sharply-honed communication and mentoring skills. This means that with their support, your business will experience real, sustainable success as you develop locally and extend your operations into new markets.
To find out more about Close Focus and our programmes, call us today on +44 28 9099 6299 or email support@close-focus.3c-stage.co.uk
A Brief history of Close Focus
‘Franks history bit’…Back in 2010, when I traded as Close Focus Consulting, the first contract was with global synthetic diamond materials group Element Six. At their Shannon site in Ireland, we started a 5-year journey that would take me across the globe, supporting projects to improve operator safety, embed best in class practice and improve the sustainability profile of the company.
At the start of 2013 I put Close Focus Consulting on hold and accepted a new leadership role as Head of Health, Safety and Environment for the Element Six Group. Here I supported sites in the UK, Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands. And from further afield in Silicon Valley in the US to Wuxi in China and Tokyo in Japan, and from Northern Sweden to Johannesburg in South Africa and quite a few points in between.
I led the delivery of integration programmes in conjunction with our parent companies, the DeBeers and Anglo American Groups, and within the E6 Group, led the reduction of safety incident rates, improved occupational health and supported new approaches to waste and resource management, leading a significant sustainability cultural change across the Group.
During that time, I was fortunate to work with many passionate and committed experts from the fields of safety, occupational health and hygiene, environmental and social sustainability, across a wide range of industries and stakeholders. This anchored my understanding of what could be achieved with the right expert technical input, innovative process, and the right people motivation.
In mid-2015 I returned home to Northern Ireland to re-think Close Focus and what we could do better to serve our customers and develop new partnerships.
Equipped with a new understanding and new skills, Close Focus Consulting became Close Focus Limited. With the same mission but a broader scope and a greater, more focused, sense of purpose.
Since then, I have been fortunate to work alongside may great business across Ireland as part of local Council ERDF funded programmes, InterTrade Irelands Brexit and Elevate programmes, Invest NI Brexit Programme and InterTrade Irelands EMERGE and Emergency Business Solutions COVID19 response.
Located 15 minutes from Belfast City Airport and 90 minutes from Dublin, Close Focus is ideally placed to serve clients across UK and Ireland.
I sincerely hope you like what you see and allow us to help you on your journey to a more sustainable business.
Connect with us online through our website Blog, LinkedIn and Twitter and sign up to our Newsletter, and come and talk with us at the many events we attend in the UK and Ireland and, don’t forget to book your initial consultation to discuss how we can help develop your business strategy.
About Frank
A Mechanical Engineer by training, Frank graduated from the Ulster University in 1998 with a HND in Mechanical, Manufacturing and Design engineering, and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Technology Management from the Open University and a Mini MBA from the Queens University of Belfast.
After university Frank spent nearly 10 years in highly regulated industries as a Product Development Engineer in the Medical Device and Scientific Instrumentation sectors. Following an 18 month period in Technical Sales with Industrial Automation supplier, Festo AG, Frank started a Technical Consultancy business, Close Focus Consulting, which led to his global role as group Head of Health, Safety and Environment with the Element Six Group, the global leader is synthetic diamond super materials. A role held until 2015 when Close Focus Limited was founded.
Frank is a Fellow of the UK Institute of Leadership and Management and an active member of Engineers Ireland Regional Committee and current Regional Vice Chair, and a member of the UK’s Institution for Environmental Professionals, IEMA.
A certified trainer, Frank holds technical qualifications in Project Management (Prince2 and Prince2 Agile), management systems auditing, occupational health and safety, and environmental management.
Frank lives in Co Down, Northern Ireland with his partner Ruth and their Great Dane, Phoebie.