Corrosion protection company Virgo Business Consulting (VBC) 
reports that the company is 
focused on skills development, given its new-entrant status in the corrosion painting market.

Operational director of the black economic-empowerment (BEE) company, Ivy Mudzusi previously told Engineering News that a challenge in the market is that some of the small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) enter the market for 
financial gain only and fail to provide quality in service 
delivery.

She added that SMMEs should have the ability to learn and provide quality to ensure that this market is one that is considered to be reliable, and this would ensure success and growth for small businesses, and the sustainability of such companies in future.

To ensure this sustainability 
and growth, the company is 
focussing on skills development. Currently, VBC has trained six new employees as specialised paint applicators. The company is planning on training another 20 people in the next few months.

This has contributed 
to job creation, and has also provided individuals 
with training that will serve them in good stead, beyond their 
employment at VBC.

The training of paint applicators, managers and other business participants is provided at a number of levels, and through a number of institutions. These include the Corrosion Institute of South Africa, the Hot Dip Galvanizers Association of Southern Africa, the Health and Safety Legal Audit Consultants, the South African Qualification and Certification Committee and corrosion control specialist InspectoTech.

The company’s team of specialists include a cathodic expert, corrosion inspectors, electricians and trained paint applicators.

Meanwhile, the 100% female-owned company has tendered for its first major contracts to provide corrosion protection and maintenance in the South African market.

VBC’s main business focus is on protective coatings for combating corrosion in different environments. The new Gauteng-based company spent a year 
researching the paint and coating industry, as well as the feasibility of entering the market as a black female-owned company, and found that the response was uniformly positive from field-experts and prospective clients.

“A market gap was perceived in the area of corrosion control, especially for black women, and we identified an opportunity to enter a niche market that is dominated by white males but supportive of our initiative,” says Mudzusi.

The company has a level 3 BEE scorecard rating. Mudzusi says this has provided VBC with a unique advantage, as it 
believes it is the only wholly black female-owned company in the South African corrosion protection industry.

The company is supported by business development agency Enterpriseroom, which assists large corporations in preferential procurement policies to achieve the necessary points on their BEE scorecards.

This provides an advantage for VBC, as clients are likely to give preference to the fledgling company when contracting, as it would add points to the clients’ own BEE scorecard, says Enterpriseroom MD Leora Rajak.

One of VBC’s service offerings is corrosion application painting, which is the scientific process of refurbishing metal structures to increase longevity.

Businesses that fail to control corrosion effectively face increased costs, reduced safety, and will have a negative effect on the environment, says Mudzusi.

The corrosion application painting process includes surface preparation, paint application as well as film thickness testing, and is structured to measured specification standards from one step to the next.