From family firm to global growth: Amazon Filters celebrates expansion
Process filter manufacturer Amazon Filters is moving into its 40th anniversary year bolstered by an investment programme with a twin focus on people and infrastructure
Founded as a family business in 1985, the expanding Surrey-based firm has increased year-on-year revenue thanks to a successful ‘quick and able’ approach to customer orders worldwide.
‘Quick and able’ is designed to meet the needs of global markets through continuous improvements in manufacturing capacity coupled with a fast 24/7 distribution model based on direct supply from the UK.
The strategy has seen exports grow by more than 70% in the last five years, taking the level of international sales to 73% of revenues overall.
Amazon Filters is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of high-quality liquid and gas filters.
These are essential for removing contamination across process industries including municipal water, food and beverage, pharma, healthcare, chemicals and coatings, oil and gas, and green hydrogen production.
The product range includes membrane and depth filter cartridges and capsules, stainless steel filters and carbon and pleated filters, and filter housings.
On bespoke engineering projects, such as emergency action to tackle outages in the public water supply or wear and tear on filtration systems on offshore oil production platforms, the company works with customers to develop unique filter formats that address specific requirements in-situ.
Managing Director Neil Pizzey, a chartered manufacturing engineer, says the firm has grown organically.
“The recipe for success remains the same today as it was when my father Mike founded the company,” Neil explains. “It’s all about being close to customers and showing we are more in tune with their needs than larger multinationals.”
The core business boils down to knowledge in the form of a physical product, says Neil. “Nobody buys a filter because it looks nice on the mantelpiece. It’s there to solve a problem. So, recognising what that is, and helping people to overcome it, is how we operate. My father understood this, and we have always made sure we have the expertise and knowledge to help customers solve their issue.”
Amazon Filters has made a series of strategic appointments and promotions to strengthen its global reach this year.
These have added expertise in areas such as product design, fabrication, quality management and the marketing of solutions to the healthcare and pharma sectors. In a specific drive towards further export growth, a dedicated business head for central Europe has been appointed through the firm’s German subsidiary.
The new hires and promotions complement and reinforce the ‘quick and able’ programme of capital investment under way at the main Camberley production centre.
This has included innovations such as a motorised welding platform, an expanded floor area for cartridge production, a range of automated assembly equipment, a new metalwork facility and a storage and stock control platform.
Thanks to the investment programme, Amazon Filters can now make and deliver a typical annual volume of more than three million meltblown cartridges and one million pleated cartridges, demonstrating a significant increase in capacity, flexibility and speed of response to bespoke orders.
Forty years on from its founding, Amazon Filters can today list key sales regions in Europe, Brazil, North America, Southeast Asia, South Africa and Australia.
As well as a dedicated production, research and development and sales hub in Poland, the firm employs in-region territory managers in France, Italy and Malaysia with support from the UK based team.
Neil believes Amazon Filters has a ‘strong story to tell’ about the benefits of robust filtration solutions for sustainability. “A good quality filter lasts longer, reduces waste and minimises system contamination,” he says. “This directly helps industries under pressure to make better use of resources, for example because of regulatory regimes that drive environmental standards and actions.”
Reflecting the same environmental focus, Amazon Filters this year became the first UK filter maker to use polypropylene made from renewable resources to produce meltblown filter media.
Effectively lowering the carbon footprint of each filter, the firm launched sustainable polypropylene versions of four ranges widely used in critical liquid filtration processes.
Guiding all activity is a range of ISO-accredited and other international quality standards that demonstrate safety, reliability and excellence in customer service.
Among objectives for future growth, the firm is targeting more work in the global hydrogen production industry.
“It’s an ongoing journey,” says Neil. “By investing in people and process and being the best we can be, we improve our customer offering and develop key markets.”
For more information, visit www.amazonfilters.co.uk