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Susan Witterick Named one of 2022’s Most Inspiring Female Founders

Susan Witterick, founder of Manchester head-quartered acoustic consultancy dBx Acoustics has been named as one of the UK’s most inspirational and dynamic female entrepreneurs by the f:Entrepreneur ‘#ialso100’ campaign.

Susan, who started dBx Acoustics in 2013, is being profiled alongside 100 female entrepreneurs from across the country, as part of a campaign to celebrate the multi-achievements of women running businesses in the UK today. Now in its fifth year, the growing campaign attracted a record number of applications for this year’s ‘#ialso100’ line-up.

The f:Entrepreneur ‘#ialso100’ sets out to showcase trailblazing female founders who lead businesses alongside a roster of other responsibilities, such as volunteering, mentoring and community support. Susan has been selected for her work around inclusivity and diversity, and for her efforts to destigmatize neurodiversity, she is an advocate for autism awareness and sits on the Institute of Acoustics equality, diversity and inclusivity committee.

Susan said: “I’m thrilled to have been included in the fEntrepreneur #also100. It’s important to me that nobody should feel excluded from a career because they don’t feel like they fit the mold. I hope the success of dBx Acoustics will encourage others to create a workplace in which they can thrive.”

dBx Acoustics provides acoustic consultancy and design services to the property and construction industry across the UK. With offices in Manchester and London, Susan leads a team of 5 and her live projects include the new Harlow campus for the UKHSA (formerly Public Health England), three new residential developments for Mulbury City in New Cross, several schools in the south east with Reds10, and acoustic design of new offices in London for a national newspaper.

Both f:Entrepreneur and Small Business Britain were founded by Michelle Ovens CBE, who is also the director of Small Business Saturday UK.

Michelle said: “Congratulations to Susan at dBx Acoustics, and all of the brilliant female entrepreneurs featured in this year’s #ialso100,

“It is so vital that we recognise and celebrate the phenomenal contribution that women running businesses are making across the UK, and the far-reaching, positive impact they are having, not just on the economy, but on wider communities too. The last few years have been hugely challenging for small businesses, yet despite this female entrepreneurship continues to grow and flourish in the UK, and is very much at the heart of the UK’s recovery.”

Delivered by Small Business Britain – the leading champion of small businesses in the UK – f:Entrepreneur was launched in 2017 to highlight the stories of female business owners and help provide inspiration and role models across the wider small business community. Now in its fifth year, the campaign offers a host of events and training and networking opportunities to boost skills, capability and confidence.

From quantum computer engineers, and vegan fruit farmers, to sustainability advocates and inclusive fashion designers, this year’s campaign celebrates inspiring and resilient female entrepreneurs that have flourished despite the challenges of the past years, with many still growing or starting new ventures.

To see the full line-up of the 100 women featured in this year’s f:entrepreneur #ialso100 campaign visit https://f-entrepreneur.com/ialso-100-2022/

New European HQ for SAP

dBx Acoustics worked with TTSP architects and project managers Storey on the fit out of two floors in London’s iconic ‘Scalpel’ building. The project created an activity based, agile workspace for the new European HQ for enterprise software company SAP.

The client provided in-house US acoustic design standards to us as our starting point. As the standards vary from UK terminology in several subtle ways, our first task was to review the requirements and convert them into a specification that could be used to tender the fit-out using a UK contractor.

During the work we identified areas where the specification was inconsistent or unclear and helped the client to develop a more coherent and well-defined set of acoustic requirements.

The fit-out included open plan office areas, a suite of meeting rooms, breakout and cafe space and quiet working areas. Speech privacy between meeting rooms was initially challenging due to the landlord’s limitations on connections to the mullions and the desire to have an open ceiling with suspended rafts. Good design and detailing ensured that, upon commissioning, the required level of speech privacy was achieved.

As SAP’s European HQ, the fit-out also includes an open plan area which can be used as a presentation space for external clients. Excellent speech intelligibility throughout this area was a key requirement and an acoustic model of the space was created to establish the most effective quantity and placement of acoustic treatments.

The project was completed in Spring 2021. You can find out more about the HQ here.

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