ClearWater Hygiene on target for £30m revenues in fight against COVID-19
ClearWater Hygiene, an Edinburgh-headquartered business launched just 12 weeks ago in response to the coronavirus outbreak, is now on course to generate more than £30m in revenue after securing a raft of significant corporate contracts across the UK.
The company, founded by property developer Andrew Montague and his wife Rachel, produces high quality, UK-manufactured hand sanitiser aimed at protecting frontline workers and the wider public in the fight against COVID-19. ClearWater began trading in March and has increased capacity to producing over 900,000 litres of its product every week.
The hand sanitiser is produced at Deeside Gin Distillery in Banchory and bottled in Preston, Lancashire. It contains 80% Ethanol liquid making it suitable for use in hospitals, care homes and other public health facilities.
The product holds EN1276 and EN1500 certifications, European standards which ensures that the bactericidal activity of chemical disinfectants are effective against controlling harmful micro-organisms. It is available in a range of quantities, from a 30ml spray cap bottle to a 20l container which can be used in motion dispensers, also supplied by ClearWater.
Mr Montague has said concerns about the inflated prices of hand sanitisers and an overreliance on imported supplies were the catalyst for launching the business which has donated significant quantities of its products to NHS charities. On the back of its ethical pricing policy (its product sells for as low as £3/litre for high volume containers) and its UK supply chain, ClearWater has also secured several major contracts with a wide range of corporate customers including The Post Office, JD plc, O2 Retail, BP, and Aldi.
The company now employs 12 full-time staff and a further eight contracted workers at its headquarters in Leith and in other parts of Scotland and the UK.
Mr Montague, CEO of ClearWater Hygiene, said: “As lockdown was being announced in March, we immediately saw the importance of reducing our reliance on imports and focusing on UK manufacturing to ensure both health providers and private businesses could access high quality and fairly priced products which are now essential in the battle against the pandemic.
“We are proud to be providing some much-needed support in the fight against COVID-19 by gifting our product to NHS charities while, at the same time, building a successful business. From a standing start just 12 weeks ago, we have seen a huge surge in demand for ClearWater products across the UK. We’re continuing to secure significant contracts; we’ve ramped up production to 900,000 litres per week; and we’re now comfortably on course to generate more than £30m in revenue by the end of the calendar year.
“I think our success has come from our ability to address customer concerns about product or supply failures. Our production processes are all UK-based and we offer an extremely high quality, independently certified product. As we face a long term battle in controlling the spread of coronavirus, this has become an essential requirement for our customers as it could be the key factor in surviving the difficult times ahead.”
One of ClearWater Hygiene’s key business advisers is James Horton from law firm CMS. He commented: “Andrew and Rachel have been phenomenal in the speed of their response to this public health crisis. They not only identified a market opportunity but have also helped address some of the essential supply issues in combating COVID-19 in the UK. In a few short weeks, they have pulled together production, design and packaging providers in different parts of the UK and are well on their way to building a successful and sustainable business.”
- Read all of our articles relating to COVID-19 here.