Ferriby Group International offers consultancy, quality assurance, training and auditing services to a broad range of companies working in a variety of industries, from marine and manufacturing to healthcare and law.
Its head office is in Hessle, near Hull, and the company has 12 branch offices across the world, including six principal, regional, bases in Australia, Canada, the Philippines, the Republic of Panama, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
The group has assisted more than 1,000 organisations to achieve compliance in quality assurance, health and safety, environmental management and supply chain security.
The business was born out of Ferriby Marine, which was founded in 1990 by two master mariners – one of them being Captain Graham Botterill, who spent 23 years at sea and was a senior figure with companies including Port Line, Cunard and Marr.
Initially, Ferriby Marine operated as a broker for ships and as a supplier of expert witnesses in maritime court cases.
However, at the time, there was a desperate need for a more professional, consistent approach to safety, management processes and training in the maritime world.
In 1991, Captain Botterill was appointed specialist advisor to a House Of Lords Select Committee on science and technology during a major inquiry into ship safety and design.
The Lords committee subsequently recommended the adoption of Captain Botterill’s safety management principles for shipping around the world.
Ever since, Ferriby Group has been tasked with globally-significant work, including being selected by the International Chamber Of Shipping to put together the guidelines for the application of the International Maritime Organisation’s International Safety Management Code, which became law shortly afterwards.
In the mid-1990s, the company’s scope of work and global reach expanded, offering a full range of consultancy, training and auditing services to every type of industry – not just the maritime sector.
Today, through its main, principal, bases and its wider network of smaller, branch, offices, Ferriby Group is represented in one way or another in 30 countries and can boast consultants who are all qualified as lead auditors with the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA).