In the fourth in a new series of Face to Face interviews, Neil Nixon speaks with Nick Winstone, Managing Director and Co-Founder of BioVate Hygienics.
Can you describe the Biovate Hygienics business, including its growth and development since launch?
Tom Burkill and I founded Biovate Hygienics 3 years ago, to drive sustainable change into the professional cleaning sector and we’ve launched several firsts into the sector in a short space of time:
The first plastic free packing;
The first all natural products, including fragrances and colours;
The first products to be certified by Ecocert.
This approach has been well received in the market, through our distribution partners we’re used by over 5000 hospitality and cleaning customers throughout the UK, with a turnover of over £4m for our third year. We’ve begun export into Europe and the Middle East and are very well poised for good growth in these markets, as well as the UK market in 2025.

What are your key brands?
Our core brand is Biovate, which is developing into the leading brand in sustainable and serviced cleaning products in its focus sectors. We are proud to produce the Sybio range for our distribution partners at Sybron, who have been with us since launch and the Ecocert brand for Bidfood.
How have you seen the needs of the cleaning market change is recent years?
The needs of the cleaning market are certainly evolving with ever more focus on cost savings, efficiency and sustainability. Our biological solutions are highly concentrated, delivering these cost savings, efficiency savings through actives that carry on cleaning in between cleans and being able to fulfil many tasks with one product.
Being an eco-focused business, how do you meet the ESG aims of your customers?
As someone who’s been an environmental evangelist in the cleaning sector for almost 20 years, I really do feel the momentum pace has shifted into a higher gear regarding our customers ESG aims.
We’re focused in the E and the Environmental aims, evolving sustainable cleaning to the next generation by adding natural colours and fragrances. Having been a pioneer in biological cleaning for the past 17 years in the UK, it’s particularly gratifying to me to be able to evolve the technology further, thanks to the passionate scientists. This allows our customers to use natural claims that they can be confident in, certified by the world leader in natural product certification, Ecocert.
We also take our journey to Net Zero seriously, having had our carbon reduction program certified by Neutral Carbon Zone, to their gold level in 2024 and working to their platinum level in 2025.
Our business has been built from the ground up, to be environmentally responsible, we have had a fully EV fleet since inception and take our carbon footprint into every decision we make as a business.
How important are your training initiatives in conveying your message to the market?
Training is critical and as someone who’s spent a lot of time out in the field with our end customers, something I’m really passionate about. I introduced the first training app 12 years ago and we’ve certified over 24,000 cleaning operatives in the past 3 years in the safe use of our products through the Biovate Training Academy.
In 2025 we take training to the next level, with our all new Bio Academy. Using the latest AI technology, we’re offering our training in over a dozen languages, ensuring that we get our message across via the audio and visual way, with actions for every area to ensure even better comprehension and not just ticking a training box. As we evolve into other markets, this facet of our offering becomes even more important.
How important are certification and credentials in the eco-cleaning sector, particularly in minimising ‘greenwashing’ and protecting customers?
Unfortunately there is still little awareness of the UK Green Claims Code that has regulated green claims since 2021 that there is still large scale non compliance to this code, which would result in a fine of up to 10% of turnover. The code makes it clear that third party validation of claims made, is a requirement, therefore eco certification is critical, in my opinion. This has not been easy since our withdrawal from the EU and its Ecolabel scheme. It’s not easy and it’s expensive but it’s the legal requirement to make green claims under the GCC and now EU Greenwashing legislation. I fear, it will take the UK another 3-5 years to become fully compliant and make it an even playing field.
Your career to date has been varied. What have been your greatest highlights/proudest moments so far?
The early part of my career was in asset management but I fell in love with manufacturing businesses and 19 years ago with environmentally responsible cleaning products and have spent the last two decades in this space. I love being part of the Cleaning Industry, it really has become my home the its people my people.
Probably the biggest change I’ve gone through is ownership mindset, my first biotechnology business was sold in 2019 and after 3 years out of biotech, I realised that this was my life’s calling and I wanted to continue to be part of its progression for the rest of my career. I’m fortunate to have a business partner in Tom Burkill who has very solid values and a long term time horizon, so we will remain privately owned and focused on our most important stakeholders, the end user of our products.
I don’t spend a lot of time reflecting on my career highlights, I mostly reflect on the mistakes I’ve made and what I can do to learn from these. Every now and again someone highlights the impact I’ve had on pioneering biotechnology in the UK’s cleaning industry and that certainly makes me proud or when I hear my son tell his friends that his Dad makes cleaning products that are good for the environment, that’s always a proud moment.
As a confirmed exhibitor at the Cleaning Show next March, can you outline why this event is important to Biovate Hygienics?
The Cleaning Show is close to our hearts at Biovate, we launched the business at the Cleaning Show in Manchester in 2022 and caused quite a stir at the last London show in 2023 with our plastic free packaging. It’s a critical gathering of the industry and at Biovate a key event for us to catch up with customers, distributors and launch new products and technologies.
Staying with the Cleaning Show, how have you seen the event evolve over the years and what would you like to see going forward?
The Cleaning Show is one of the highlights for the business and me personally that I’m really looking forward to! I attended my first one in Birmingham in 2008/9 and have been to everyone since, mostly as an exhibitor.
It’s an opportunity to connect with everyone in the industry, see old friends and meet new potential customers, I try turn everyone I meet there into a bio believer!
I’m really excited about the CSSA fire pit sessions that are being held and would look forward to participating in a few of these, with competitors, distributors, cleaning customers and have open constructive discussions about how we continue to work together to take sustainability forward in 2025. These type of industry dialogue events are a great evolution for the Show.
To finish, can you give us a peek into what the future might hold for your business?
Our vision for the future of Biovate is to lead the industry in the UK when it comes to sustainability and service. We’ve already packed in a lot of sustainable innovation in the 1000 days since we started Biovate, have certified over 24,000 cleaning operatives in the safe use of our products and achieved a 99.8% customer satisfaction rate all customers serviced last year.
http://www.biovatehygienics.com