A company which makes antibacterial coatings for everyday products such as socks, shoes, towels and baby bedding has been inundated with interest – even though it is not a sufficient barrier to Covid-19.
Byron Dixon said his Micro-Fresh product is effective against bacteria rather than viruses – but that hasn’t stopped business owners getting in touch about using it when the 海角视频 gets back to normal.
It comes after Mr Dixon’s company made a one-off batch of 20,000 bottles of hand sanitiser, which he said were snapped up by three customers to sell on.
The Leicester entrepreneur said he would have liked to have made more, but the raw materials were now in such short supply it was almost impossible.
Micro-Fresh was launched in 2006, when Mr Dixon developed a way of preventing mould growing on products such as sofas and shoes when they were in transit from the far corners of the world.
He realised the non-toxic, anti-bacterial formula could also be used to stop pongs and germs at home, in things ranging from uniforms to car seats.
Clients along the way have included Next and Dunelm, and he recently signed a deal to provide the technology for pillows on first class and business class Emirates flights.
He is currently in the process of bringing his manufacturing in-house at his new company base in Thurmaston, just outside Leicester.
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The business currently turns over around £1.2 million and he believes that could go up after the virus is dealt with as business owners have a renewed interest in health and hygiene.
He said: “A lot of people have made the connection about Micro-Fresh and bacteria and that fact that we are all thinking more about what we touch.
“As a result we’ve had calls coming in from universities, schools, colleges, sports stadia saying that when they reopen they want to get Micro-Fresh on their surfaces.
“We can’t claim it can kill viruses, because they can’t last that long anyway, but restaurant owners, for instance, will be thinking that when they reopen they want to be doing the best they can to make the business as safe as possible.
“So we are talking about sprays that facilities management teams can use, about putting it in wood lacquers to use on surfaces, and about thinks like linen and table cloths.
“Even existing clients have said that when this all settles down, they want to show clients and customers that they operate in a clean environment.
“We have stock and are going to start manufacturing here at the end of May, but that, obviously, could be later now.”
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Mr Dixon began his career as a lab technician for Stahl – part of ICI in Loughborough – working on leather finishing products for tanneries, shoe factories and upholstery companies.
From there he became a technician, before being headhunted in 1997 by Danish shoe giant Ecco.
After returning to the 海角视频 in the mid-2000s, he noticed how things such as shoes, sofas and other leather products being shipped in from warm climates such as India, Brazil and China often went mouldy in transit.
After months of development he created an anti-fungal treatment which was not an irritant.
Mr Dixon said: “These are tough times for everyone, but I think because of the way we are spread around a few different markets, we’ve got a bit more leverage than we might.
“Time will tell.”