As social media filled with back to school photos of children, siblings, proud parents, new uniforms, transitions from one year to the next, we celebrated a landmark of our own this week – HSEQ-360 Limited celebrated its 6th birthday.

It’s been quite a momentous start to September for us in another way too, with our company featuring in “The Guardian”, no less, for its ethos, specifically, our adoption of the Prompt Payment Code.

Let’s explain that first, before we look at the birthday in more depth.

The Prompt Payment Code (PPC) is a UK standard for fair payment.

Signatories commit to:

  • Paying 95% of small business invoices within 30 days
  • Paying 95% of all other invoices within 60 days
  • Being transparent and avoiding unfair delays

It’s run by the Small Business Commissioner, and firms can be suspended if they don’t comply.

We know, as a SME ourselves, how crucial cashflow is, and this company prides itself on paying clients, suppliers, employees etc quickly. 

Away from Back to School updates, despairing companies and individuals are often featured on channels like LinkedIn, with a whole swathe of debt collecting agencies and individuals giving advice to beleaguered businesses. 

We follow the Prompt Payment Code and, what it does, is signal how open and trustworthy we are, but also leads to closer relationships with clients who know how Steve Cook runs this 6 year old offshore wind HSEQ business.

Our birthday this week 

6 years is relatively young, we know, for a business, but in challenging national and international times, it still feels like a real cause for celebration. It all began in 2019 as a solo operation from Steve Cook, and has expanded from one base in Norfolk to a second in Nottinghamshire, with team expansion along the way. There are actually 11 team members now, led by Steve. 

You can read brief bios here; https://hseq-360.co.uk/about-us/

To give our longevity some perspective, here’s a summary of what happened in 2019 in the UK:

Theresa May resigned after her Brexit deal collapsed, Boris Johnson took power, and by December secured a landslide election victory on a pledge to “get Brexit done.” Beyond politics, the year saw Prince Andrew step back from royal duties over the Epstein scandal, Extinction Rebellion protests disrupted London, and severe flooding devastated the north. Tragedy struck with the Essex lorry deaths and the London Bridge terror attack, while on a brighter note England won the Cricket World Cup, reached the Rugby World Cup final, and Glastonbury returned in triumph.

As we enter our seventh year in business, we are committed to building on this success.

The world is in a state of turmoil, politically and economically, but offshore wind continues to be a growth story in the UK, with green energy being a success. 

  • 2019: offshore wind capacity stood at around 29 GW worldwide, dominated by Europe, with the UK leading. China accelerated project approvals.
  • 2020: despite the Covid-19 global pandemic, investment remained strong. The International Energy Agency declared offshore wind a “$1 trillion industry” potential.
  • 202: China overtook the UK as the world leader in offshore wind installations. The US approved its first large-scale offshore project (Vineyard Wind).
  • 2022: global capacity passed 60 GW. Floating wind projects gained momentum, with pilot farms off Scotland, Norway, and Japan.
  • 2023: supply chain bottlenecks and inflation drove up project costs, forcing some delays and cancellations in the US and UK, though new record turbine sizes (15 MW+) were unveiled.
  • 2024–2025: offshore wind exceeded 75 GW worldwide. China continued to dominate new builds, while Europe focused on scaling floating wind. The US advanced East Coast projects, but policy uncertainty slowed progress. Governments worldwide reaffirmed offshore wind as central to net-zero targets for 2030–2050.

As our seventh year in business begins, we look forward with confidence and formally, here, extend our thanks to our superb team, wonderful clients and other stakeholders for making HSEQ-360 Limited celebrate its 6th birthday in September 2025.