An independently owned company with Roger Temple at the helm, Flowtech has a staff of 20 employees, including administration, sales, production, warehousing and packaging. Many of the staff have long service records, such as Jean who has 30 years with the company. I also met a husband and wife team who have been with the company for many years, although they have worked in different departments. With 15 years service himself, VI spoke with Sales & Marketing Director Guy Peacock, who gave us an insight into their business and the products they offer.

The Company

With their offices and manufacturing site within walking distance of each other, the Company's activities are broadly split into four areas of Process Filtration involving Wine, Beer & Soft Drinks, Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Food Service industries. On these premises they have their own tooling and machinery, and produce 70% of their filters including the company's own brands Alphacel, LFM Lenticular module range, FT.EXC Carbon cartridges and the Carbon X, Pro X and Dekal. The Food Service applications cover the provision of a range of filters suitable for use with a diverse range of equipment including Vending Machines, Espresso equipment, Hot Water Boilers and Post Mix equipment. Ancillary products in the range include filtration systems for use in domestic and recreational environments, along with a range of hygiene products and pipe fittings.

Marketing

Most of Flowtech's business originates from word of mouth, current relationships and web based enquiries. Although the Company does not exhibit at many shows they are a regular exhibitor at the Aquatech exhibition at the Amsterdam RAI Centre Holland, which is an industry major for them.

Water filters are the silent necessity behind the scene of vending.

Innovation

Flowtech have always had a niche market within the filtration business, and were one of the first companies to recognize the change within the vending industry, as they identified  consumers' preferences in demanding a better quality cup, moving from free standing to table top coffee machines. The different filter requirements for these machines lead to the development of the Pro X, specifically for smaller units, which offers better scale control through a combination of the use of food grade ion exchange and extruded carbon block.

Most machine manufacturers are now only issuing warranties for their machines, if specific filters are used and replaced at regular intervals, which has resulted in alliances between filtration companies and machine manufactures and lead to a increase in the supply of filters. As Flowtech have the technology and expertise to develop products, they also offer this service to the manufacturer, so a partnership can develop from the initial drawing board stage. From an operator's view it makes sense that machine and filter are compatible and stock always available; these can be brought in bulk or on demand, as drink quality is paramount to their sales and ongoing business.

Not just filters

Flowtech will provide a service to exchange filters on site and even manage your stock database if required. They currently work with some major food retailers on ensuring their water is top quality.

Partnership

Although a privately owned company, Flowtech have taken on board a business relationship with KX Technologies from the USA. Acting as their Master-stocking distributor for Europe, Flowtech are currently supplying to Italy, Denmark, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Switzerland and Norway. KX Technologies have been active since 1989 and produce the carbon block extrusions used in Flowtech's own product range as well as their own well known brands of Matrikx extrusions.

Within this standard range the use of the Ceramikx cartridge could be especially interesting to companies involved in the POU Cooler market offering as it does sub micron filtration efficiency.

KX industries develop bespoke filter systems for domestic and POU systems and Flowtech will act as technical intermediaries and stocking distributor for these products.

The next 10 years

Machines will continue to develop into the future and the need for filters will work hand in hand. Flowtech will be working to supply the demand for quality water solutions and steadily build on their current success.

For further information please call 01189 941 3121 or visit www.flowtechfh.com.

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