Jason Sayers doesn’t like the word ‘pivot’; well in a business context, that is.
“Pivot makes it sound like there is an issue with the existing business model,” says the chief executive (CEO) of Filta Group Holdings (LON:FLTA), the oil filtration and fryer management group.
“There’s not. We are very clear in knowing what we are doing and we are simply adding another service.”
The company is doing what any entrepreneurial business does in periods of difficulty – it is adapting.
Filta’s stock-in-trade is servicing the kitchens of some of the biggest names in the restaurant and hospitality industries.
But with a piece of lateral thinking, it has come up with a very neat solution that will aid the back to work effort.
FiltaShield
Called FiltaShield, the new sanitising service has been developed specifically to combat and prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Central to this is a laboratory-tested polymer coating, originally developed to prevent algae growth on US nuclear submarines, that once applied leaves behind a mono-molecular layer that bonds to the surface and protects it from the virus for up to 30 days.
Filta is also offering a camera technology that can screen up to 30 people per second for fever, providing further preventative measures as people gravitate back towards their place of employment.
“We are talking to our existing customer base about how they open up with them,” says Sayers.
“We have also signed up 40 independent sales agents who are into all the different other markets and we are now selling into schools, councils, offices, anywhere.
“We are being approached by a lot of people now to help them open, whether that’s in the City of London, bank branches. We are getting interest in our solution.”
Good start to the year
Before the outbreak, Filta, which listed in London at the end of 2016, was upbeat on the prospects for 2020.
It negotiated some tricky integration issues that came with 2018 acquisition of the Watbio business and was ready to kick on (see today’s results statement).
Instead, the hatches have been battened down here in the UK.
Whereas before, it was operating 70 vans servicing clients such as McDonald's and the pub giant Mitchells & Butlers, it was down to just eight.
Around 80 staff are furloughed, and Sayers has been appreciative of the financial help provided by the Treasury.
“In terms of supporting the economy, the UK government has done a tremendous job,” he adds.
The contrast is palpable with the US: “The UK has been very clear and encouraged the right behaviour. Compare that with the US where it has been unclear at best.”
Experience is the key
Sayers and his senior colleagues survived during and prospered after the global financial crisis, so management feels better equipped than most to negotiate the current maelstrom, with Filta’s chief financial officer Brian Hogan carefully managing the pennies.
“We are pretty well set; in fact, our cash on hand has increased during the period. So, we can weather it into next year and beyond,” says CEO Sayers. “We have no plans to raise money.”
He also said the US franchisees are doing well in the circumstances. “Most I have spoken to are breaking even on a monthly business. This is good and we have the government support as well,” said Sayers.
In the UK, work is steadily increasing with McDonald's as its restaurants begin to re-open, while Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown offers further hope that things will get back to near normality in the coming months. That means more vans back on the road.
“With FiltaShield coming out, we hope to help customers re-open and employ our people in good, paying jobs rather than rely on the government,” the Filta CEO added.