SERIAL entrepreneur Gio Benedetti’s Green Cross Training has secured a deal to deliver first aid and health and safety courses to Coca-Cola employees across the UK, including the soft drinks company’s site in East Kilbride, writes Karen Peattie.

Green Cross Training has also won a number of similar contracts with City of Edinburgh Council, Highland Council and Newcastle Council, bolstering its client portfolio which includes supermarket groups Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, and BT.

Key to the Hamilton-based firm’s growth is its online Green Cross External Management System which has been developed following a £1 million investment. It allows clients to plan and update courses, select trainers and venues, and allocate employees to courses on specific times and days anywhere in the country.

Mr Benedetti, who has built and sold a series of businesses worth around £100m, said: “It is the same with this company. We started from scratch and have recently spent a lot of time on strategy and invested significant funds in innovative training management systems.”

Green Cross, which also has premises in Milton Keynes, plans to double its sales force before the end of the year. Mr Benedetti, the father of violinists Nicola and Stephanie, is also exploring plans to expand through the acquisition of other training companies.

The Italian-born entrepreneur recently unveiled a medical device called Airglove, a patented product designed to ease the trauma patient often endure when medical professionals struggle to access veins for intravenous treatments. He believes the device will save the NHS £14m per annum.