Special boost in Far East
HARTLEPOOL-based water treatment and environmental hygiene firm HydroChem is expanding operations in the Far East, after winning special status from the Malaysian government.
A cash-funded £250,000 investment in production facilities at Subang Jaya, including a laboratory and clean room, will allow the wholly UK-owned company to supply the burgeoning public health sector in Malaysia where hospitals have been brought to a virtual standstill by environmental infection.
MD Bill Abbott said HydroChem initially planned to take advantage of the 10-year import tax holiday granted to “priority status” firms by supplying its Subang Jaya plant with concentrated chemicals manufactured in Hartlepool. Products include SteriChelle disinfectant for which it holds the worldwide patent.
He said contracts won through the Malaysian Ministry of Health could see the firm’s £750,000 turnover double in two years, but that may be dependent on a current bid to banks and alternative investment bodies to match by 50% another £200,000 of UK-raised capital.
The firm, which employs 20 staff in total, said it was looking to recruit both in Malaysia and Teesside.
HydroChem UK, part of the HydroChem Group of independently owned companies, was the smallest firm to be granted priority status by the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority in December.
“Pioneer status means we have a unique product and unique prices, said Mr Abbott.
“At the moment, we are doing a lot of disinfecting of hospitals to get rid of molds and spores.”
The firm, which has a tie up with US bioprotection company, Steritech Systems, said it would use Malaysia as a stepping stone to developing business in Far East economies where spending on public health had increased markedly in recent years.
Meanwhile, it was pursuing other Ministry contracts, including helping Malaysian farmers combat the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus.
In the UK, HydroChem supplies MRSA-fighting chemicals into the Scottish health care system through fellow HydroChem Group member, Roam Chemie UK, but said NHS procurement procedures in England worked against smaller firms.
