In the latest in a series of Face to Face interviews, Neil Nixon speaks with Richard Cowderoy, UK Technical Support Manager (UK & ROI) at Christeyns Food Hygiene.
Can you describe the CFH business today, including some key milestones of which you are particularly proud?
Christeyns Food Hygiene has moved on so much in the eight years I’ve been here, and the future is looking very bright for us as a business. We’re continuing the developments and improvements at our site in Warrington, which are all aimed at ensuring we can meet the needs and requirements of our customers, our sustainability plans and our Corporate Social Responsibility. We’ve recently achieved higher tier COMAH (Control Of Major Incident Hazards) status, and this will allow us to continue to ensure the safety of our employees and the community around the site.
In Spring last year we were awarded the prestigious EcoVadis Gold Medal for our commitment to sustainability and responsible business practices. This places us in the top 5% worldwide of companies recognised with this esteemed award.
What sets your company apart from its competitors?
Firstly, our people. From our operatives and support teams at Warrington, right through to our experienced and knowledgeable field team, we always put our customers first and ensure that we deliver the highest standards of service and support. Secondly, our vision. Not only from an internal perspective relating to our future growth and development as a business, but also in terms of new technologies and chemistry that ensure our customers sites and, in some cases, customer sites not fully supplied by Christeyns can benefit from new developments in these areas that will benefit their operation and missions to ensure all food quality and safety requirements are met.
How do you continue to innovate across your particular sector (as in food)? Do you work with teams from the other CUK sectors - laundry, life sciences, professional hygiene on innovation?
There’s been a real increase in inter-company interaction over the past few years, which has been a huge benefit to us all. Particularly with the sharing of internal process and systems to improve efficiencies and customer services. But also, as we’re all working within the chemical industry, idea and information sharing on product developments has been invaluable.
With headquarters in Ghent, Belgium, how focussed can you be on the specific needs of the UK market?
We went through a global harmonisation project in 2020 that involved a review of our chemical products with a view to rationalise the global range. This project was led by Gent and involved a lot of inter-country communication and really cemented the link between head office and all of the regions we operate in. This contact has continued in to more recent projects such as Fresh Check Swabs (rapid microbiological detection) and LoopiX (rapid pathogen detection) and we all speak regularly to discuss progress on, not just these projects, but other activities as well.
Innovation is key to your continued success. How has your quest for and delivery of innovative solutions supported the objectives of both you and your customers?
Standing out from our competitors within the detergent and disinfection supply industry is always difficult, as, essentially, most of our products are similar in terms of formulation and application. However, alongside our fantastic field based and customer support teams, we see ourselves as industry leaders when it comes to innovation and new ideas. Before most new ideas get off the ground, there is always a consideration of how and where new innovations might benefit our customers. This often relies on the experience and knowledge of our team being mostly from Hygiene, Technical and Operational management backgrounds, understanding the difficulties, wants and needs of the industry. We have some fantastic, game changing technologies and products in the pipeline currently, and can’t wait to see them fully launched.
Being a chemical-based business, what role do your ESG initiatives play in offering a sustainable service to your customers?
As a business, we are very aware of our environmental impact and carbon footprint and based on our main product range and the methods in which they are manufactured and processed, are doing all we can to minimise our output and usage in terms of chemicals, energy and water. From obvious solutions like solar panels right through to clever and innovative re-formulations of our detergents and disinfectants, we are and will continue to seek out operational ways to do our bit.
How do acquisitions – particularly the recent purchase of H&M Disinfection Systems – serve to strengthen your offering?
We live in a modern world of speed and convenience when it comes to supply of products. So, for Christeyns Food Hygiene to be able to offer a broad range of solutions to all of the potential issues and needs of our customers means that we can be a “one stop shop” for everything from environmental monitoring products right through to large scale engineering projects.
To finish, can you give us a peek into what the future might hold for CHF?
The future is very bright for Christeyns Food Hygiene. We’re always self-analysing and looking for improvements in everything we do, looking at ways in which we can support our customers even more. Innovation is constant and we continue to work on sustainable initiatives.
Later this year we will be opening our new Recycling Centre on our site in Warrington, one of the functions of this unit will include the washing of IBCs and drums for re-use.
It’s a really exciting time to be a part of the Christeyns Family and I personally can’t wait to see what the future holds.
https://www.christeyns.com/uk-en/
