Global Entrepreneurship Week: How USW’s support is helping Victor engineer success

Victor Ojabo and Luke Horsley, NDT South Wales Ltd Business Development Manager 

Originally from Nigeria, the support Victor Ojabo has received from across the University of  South Wales (USW) has helped his engineering expertise develop into a successful business.

Having worked in engineering in his home country of Nigeria, Victor Ojabo, 41, decided to develop his skills and business expertise in the UK – and his decision to study at USW has certainly paid off.

Starting his MSC in Aviation Engineering and Management in 2017, and then going on to do his MBA, both at USW, he decided to set-up a business using his engineering skills, and established NDT South Wales Ltd

Focusing on ‘Non-Destructive Testing’ of vital Infrastructure, for a number of vital industries, Victor’s business works with companies in a number of sectors, including Aerospace, Railway, Steel Works, Civil Engineering, Water Treatment, and Precision Manufacturing.

But the success – Victor is planning on further expanding his team as the amount of work NDT gains increases – has not come without support from specialists at USW.

“I started the business last year during the Covid-19 pandemic, and needed a lot of support to get things going,” said Victor, a married father of three who lives in Cardiff.

“Thankfully, across USW there is a great deal of assistance on offer from experts who can offer the right support that is needed.

“At Start-up Stiwdio, which is based at USW Cardiff Campus, I was able to get support with establishing the business, getting my head around the digital side of things, compliance and accreditation registrations – since I started during the pandemic so needed to know how that worked - registering for things such as Company Incorporation, BINDT Corporate Membership, Health and Safety, Supplier Quality Management Scheme and VAT, and getting mentoring from the people who knew what to do and how to do it.

“I also had great support from other specialists across USW, including the USW Start-up Stiwdio, USW Business Clinic, Careers and Employability Team and USW Exchange, which offers further access to the University’s experts and business contacts.”

Having benefited from the support on offer from USW experts, Victor is working to continue his company’s expansion with further help from the University.

“Now that we’re looking at building our client base, I’m putting the focus on our marketing. We've tried a couple of things, such as direct emailing, cold emailing, phone calls, social media and online marketing, so will see how we can do more with that,” Victor said.

“I’ve also had discussions about relocating the business to USW Newport Campus, and establishing a base there. This would be ideal as I could still access the support on offer at USW, which has been vital in getting my business up and running.”