Brit Couple Who Set Up Hand Sanitiser Firm Just 12 Weeks Ago Set To Make £30 Million

Andrew and Rachel Montague are the husband and wife team who set up ClearWater Hygiene water, and they've since secured a load of corporate contacts as businesses prepare to start up again.

Having recognised the gap in the market for the hygiene product, the couple - who have four children - started trading in March, but now they're able to produce almost a million litres of product every week.

It's produced at Deeside Gin Distillery in Banchory, Aberdeenshire and bottled up in Preston, Lancashire.

With it being 80 percent ethanol liquid, it's hospital grade sanitiser, which can be used in care settings and public health facilities.

Some of the contracts ClearWater has secured include the Post Office, JD plc, O2 Retail, BP and Aldi. Some of them are multiple year agreements, with a contract value of £30m.

Since launching in March, the firm has already made £3m in revenue and has also donated to NHS charities.

The company now has 12 full time staff working for it, with eight contractors working at its HQ in Leith, Edinburgh.

Mr Montague, who is a property developer, 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 our products across the UK.

"We're continuing to secure significant contracts and we've ramped up production to 900,000 litres per week."

James Horton from law firm CMS, one of ClearWater Hygiene's key business advisers, said: "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."

Next week the business will launch its affordable Smart Stand - designed to be located at entrances to shops, bars and restaurants.

The 'Smart Stand' will include a motion sensor dispenser and an infrared thermometer with an LCD display, that can monitor temperatures on entry and exit.

Andrew added: "We're working closely with Hotel Groups and large commercial landlords to ensure maximum protection across common areas and access locations."