Chemex International (From York Press)

Chemex International

11:48am Friday 3rd July 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share

MARK Thompson was one of hundreds who lost their jobs when the Terry’s factory closed in York.

But he turned disaster into triumph by using his redundancy pay to invest in his own business – a franchise of Chemex International, Europe’s top supplier of cleaning and hygiene products.

Now, four years on, having doubled turnover last year and scooped awards, he is forecasting sales of more than £200,000 and preparing to take on staff for the first time as a string of new contracts come through.

So successful is Mark, based in James Street, York, that he is pitching not only for Small Business Of The Year in The Press Business Awards 2009, but also Growth Business Of The Year. The franchise, which covers a large part of North Yorkshire, supplies a wide array of businesses across the county, including local authorities, care homes, hotels and restaurants and schools and colleges.

He said: “It may sound strange, but losing my job after 17 years at Terry’s was one of the best things ever to happen to me. It opened up new opportunities and gave me the chance to set myself up in business.

“Both myself and my wife, Jackie, lost our jobs when Terrys closed, but we have both prospered since.

“Running the Chemex franchise has been a revelation for me. I have had to learn new skills, but have benefited not just financially, but also through the satisfaction of providing a service to other businesses and making a lot of new friends along the way.”

Mark attributes his success to excellent customer care, providing free advice and training for customers and their staff in health and safety and hygiene.

He said: “We differ from other hygiene product companies in that we are not a delivery company.

“We become an important resource for our clients, providing advice, training, risk assessment and updates on new legislation or developments in cleaning techniques.”

This includes advising on products to combat the spread of H1N1 (swine flu) or Norovirus, particularly for care homes where elderly people are more vulnerable.

In fact, his immediate future plans include setting up in new premises big enough to act as a training centre as well as a trade counter to sell from.

This year Mark’s service was recognised by Chemex which voted him Franchisee of the Quarter, beating 70 rivals to the title. He earlier won the Chemex Sales Challenge with a prize of a £1,500 holiday in Dubai.

• Print
• Email
• Share