Couple who set up hand sanitiser business 12 weeks ago set to make £30 million

Proof that timing is everything: husband and wife team Andrew and Rachel Montague are set to make £30 million after setting up a hand sanitiser business just 12 weeks ago.

The couple created ClearWater Hygiene, a business producing high-grade hand sanitiser aimed at frontline workers and the wider public.

They work with Deeside Gin Distillery in Banchory, Aberdeenshire to make the sanitiser, which is then bottled in Preston, Lancashire.

Each sanitiser contains 80% ethanol liquid, making it suitable for use in hospitals, care homes and other public health facilities.

The company has secured major contracts with corporate customers including the Post Office, JD plc, O2 Retail, BP, and Aldi – some of which are multi-year agreements, with an expected total contract value of £30m.

The couple have already made more than £3million in actual revenue since their business’s launch in March – and have also donated significant quantities of their products to NHS charities.

They now employ 12 full-time staff and a further eight contracted workers at ClearWater Hygiene’s headquarters in Leith, Edinburgh, and in other parts of Scotland and the UK.

Andrew, a property developer, said: ‘As lockdown was being announced in March, we immediately saw the importance of reducing our reliance on imports and focusing on UK manufacturing to ensure both health providers and private businesses could access high quality and fairly priced products which are now essential in the battle against the pandemic.

‘We are proud to be providing some much-needed support in the fight against Covid-19 by gifting our product to NHS charities while, at the same time, building a successful business.

‘From a standing start just 12 weeks ago, we have seen a huge surge in demand for our products across the UK.

‘We’re continuing to secure significant contracts and we’ve ramped up production to 900,000 litres per week.’

Ref: Metro