Air filtration specialists restructure business

Filtermist International Limited has restructured its UK business operations to ensure it delivers a single-source solution for customers looking for cleaner, safer and more productive work environments.

The industrial air filtration specialist has completed a number of acquisitions over the past three years, which have significantly expanded its product and service offering in dust extraction equipment, air filtration technology and the latest industrial vacuum cleaning products.

In order to strengthen its market position and improve the ‘turnkey’ customer experience, it will merge the current eight businesses into just two - Filtermist International and Filtermist Systems, operating and manufacturing from sites in Telford, Northampton, Wetherby, Dewsbury and Glasgow.

In addition to Filtermist oil filters, the company is also responsible for manufacturing a range of product brands, all of which are being retained. These include Dustcheck, Ecogate, Fastclip, Gallito, Kerstar and XS Automation.

“This change is part of a strategic, long-term plan we’ve developed to help us grow globally,” said CEO, James Stansfield.

“We are not losing any product brands, merely reorganising how we operate to ensure our customers continue to benefit from the best service possible.

“As well as increasing our product portfolio through the brands we have acquired, we have also increased our headcount by more than 300%, giving us a substantial nationwide presence. We wanted to capitalise on this by ensuring our customers can easily access the best knowledge and the best skills that suit their specific requirements.

“We have streamlined our operating companies from eight to two - Filtermist International Limited, which will be responsible for manufacturing all of our branded products and Filtermist Systems Limited, which will handle the sales of our products to UK customers.

“There has been a major increase in demand for turnkey solutions, where customers can go to one organisation and have all of their requirements met to a high standard. This is exactly what we are doing with this approach - we are a single source solutions provider for clean air in industrial workplaces.”

Filtermist International Limited, which celebrates 50 years in business in 2019, has recently invested in a new 30,000 sq ft central distribution and assembly facility, just a few minutes’ walk away from its purpose-built headquarters on the T54 Business Park in Telford.

This will enhance stock control and improve delivery lead times even further, as well as freeing up additional capacity to increase the company’s metal fabrication footprint.

The restructuring will also improve group synergies across all of the brands, making the sales and accounts functions far more efficient and delivering even better customer service and product development opportunities for clients. It will give the business a strong platform to scale globally, both through organic growth and further, strategic acquisitions.

James said: “Filtermist oil mist collectors are very well known in the UK metalworking sector, but the company has expanded so quickly in recent years that our customers may not be fully aware of everything else we now offer. By bringing all of our brands under one umbrella, our sales team can now offer all of our products to all customers, providing a full turnkey solution for ‘clean air’ requirements.”

Filtermist is part of the Swedish company Absolent Group, which operates globally through subsidiary companies manufacturing products for collecting oil mist, oil smoke and dust within almost all industrial sectors.