FACE TO FACE with: Gareth Prosser, Managing Director, Karcher UK

In the latest in a series of Face to Face interviews, Neil Nixon speaks with Gareth Prosser, Managing Director at Karcher UK.

You joinedKärcher from Hilti, a global leader in construction tools and technology. How will this experience be brought to bear on Kärcher’s operation in the UK?
When I made the transition from Hilti to Kärcher, I identified three key areas of focus for me: people and culture, driving an outstanding customer experience, and fostering a development mindset through coaching and supporting staff. While the industries and contexts are different, I’ve found that both organisations share a strong cultural DNA, which has made the transition feel very positive and familiar.

Can you describe your ambitions for the Kärcher Professional business, particularly looking at the UK market?
My primary goal for the Kärcher professional business in the UK, is to become the market leader. This objective involves achieving the fastest growth and the largest relative market share within the professional cleaning industry. The ultimate goal is for Kärcher to be the partner of choice.

What sets Kärcher apart from its competitors and how will it continue to evolve to ensure its leadership position?
What sets Kärcher apart from its competitors is our ability to combine the right people and mindset with continuous innovation and a strong customer-first approach. To maintain a leadership position, I believe there are three core elements that are critical to success: having the right talent and mindset across the organisation, continuously innovating our products and services, and delivering a comprehensive end-to-end customer support process. Our strategy is centred on removing barriers for customers and ensuring that the Kärcher brand is consistently associated with professional cleaning solutions.

Focused on areas from pressure washers, vacuum cleaners and sweepers to scrubber dryers, municipal equipment and cleaning robots, how do you continue to innovate across such diverse sectors?
Addressing current industry challenges around productivity, labour availability, and operational efficiency is central to Kärcher’s product development strategy. Every product is designed with a clear focus on improving task speed and effectiveness, while ultimately making life easier for our customers. This is underpinned by Kärcher’s long-standing heritage of innovation, combined with a commitment to delivering outstanding service and support. Looking ahead, innovation will continue to play a critical role, with a growing focus on autonomous cleaning solutions and technologies that help customers operate more efficiently and sustainably.

With headquarters in Germany, how focussed can you be on the specific needs of the UK market? How important is support from Germany in delivering premium products to the UK?
The UK operation is an extension of the headquarters in Germany rather than a separate entity. The UK team provides feedback to the group to help inform product design, while simultaneously adopting best practices from other countries that are innovating rapidly in the cleaning space.

How will your quest for and delivery of innovative solutions support the objectives of your customers in a fiercely competitive and cash-strapped business environment?
In a labour-intensive industry operating on tight margins, every incremental gain in productivity and efficiency can deliver significant value to customers. At Kärcher, our focus is on understanding and solving the challenges our customers face every day, whether that’s overcoming labour shortages, or increasing operational efficiency.

As one of our customers’ most important partners, it’s essential that we have a clear understanding of their needs and challenges. By combining innovative products, strong service support, and practical solutions that make day-to-day operations easier, we help customers improve performance while strengthening Kärcher’s position as a trusted industry leader.

What role do your ESG initiatives play in offering a sustainable offering to your customers?
ESG initiatives are for me a business prerequisite and provide a strategic advantage. Kärcher has integrated these practices throughout the business, from product concept, design, manufacture; all the way through to how we our own operations and ways of working in local markets. It’s very much part of our DNA.

How does technology – and particularly the development of robotic solutions - serve to strengthen your offering?
Robotic solutions are intended to assist human workers rather than replace them. Robotics are deployed for scalable, predefined cleaning tasks, which frees up staff to focus on more complex, value-added work that requires human intervention. It is important to remember that robotics are ultimately there to assist rather than replace, by supporting businesses to improve productivity, and overcome labour shortages.

With significant changes to the training landscape how can Kärcher help its customers maximise the benefits of its cleaning machines and systems?
With big changes taking place across the training landscape, Kärcher’s role is to ensure customers can maximise the full benefits of their cleaning machines and systems through the right combination of training and ongoing service. A key differentiator for Kärcher is our ability to provide practical, value-driven training through our training academy, digital learning resources, and sales and support teams. This ensures customers can use equipment safely and productively in day-to-day operations.

Equally important is the level of service and support we provide beyond the initial purchase. We want customers to know that Kärcher is always there to support them, helping them overcome operational challenges and get the greatest possible value from their investment. Everything we deliver, whether it’s training, service, or technology, must ultimately provide meaningful value to the customer.

As a major exhibitor at the recent Cleaning Show in London, can you outline why this event is so important to the cleaning sector? What do you seek to achieve in attending?
The show is essential for networking within the industry, connecting not just within the UK but with AKW too, and allows us to showcase our product innovation to a large audience in a short space of time. It also creates an opportunity to get live feedback on product ranges from a key audience.

To finish, can you give us a peek into what the future might hold for Kärcher Professional in the UK, particularly focusing on your personal objectives in joining the business?
The strategy centres on aligning people, product innovation, and support processes to capture growth opportunities in the UK professional cleaning market, with an emphasis on listening to and prioritising customer needs.

We also continue to strive to be the number one in the pro cleaning space in the UK and look to transform the level of professionalism and service offered to our clients, constantly evolving the way in which we work and develop to align with customer demand and preferences.

https://www.kaercher.com/uk/