At Elmac Technologies we are feeling very optimistic – not just in the short term – as we enter the New Year, but also in the medium to long term. If we were to listen to the mainstream media it would be very easy to fall into a vicious cycle of “doom and gloom”. Their sensationalist reporting style, especially on the COVID virus and the “uncertainty” following the UK’s exit from the EU, would lead us to believe that we should just give up and stop fighting what is a battle we are doomed to lose.
However, Lew Bingham, Managing Director at Elmac Technologies has an alternative, more positive, perspective of the situation.
“There is no doubt that 2020 was a difficult year for us all, not least those who have lost their jobs or their businesses and, in far too many cases, their loved ones. It’s less than 12 months since Coronavirus, COVID, SAGE, and Lockdown entered our daily lexicon and came to dominate our conversations.
However, it’s definitely not all doom and gloom! We are a nation that’s dealt with much more difficult situations in the past and I’m sure our dogged determination and ability to innovate will see us through this crisis too. The fact that we have a number of effective vaccines already approved and administered in their millions is a huge achievement and a good reason to be hopeful that this deadly virus can be beaten within the next few months.
The 4+ years since the 2016 Brexit referendum have been extremely frustrating. The wide-ranging attempts to reverse the results of the referendum caused friction between friends, families and nations and held back investment and potential business growth. However, the long wait is finally over and, as a relief to us all, the UK has agreed a unique tarrif and quota-free trade deal with the EU worth over £650bn pa. What’s more, in the 2020 transition period, the Department for International Trade managed to negotiate more than 60 new Free Trade Agreements and continuity trade deals worth in excess of £100bn.
In addition, between June and September last year, the UK economy proved robust enough to recover quickly from the first lockdown. Schools, shops and most businesses, including those in the travel and hospitality sectors, re-opened and consumer spending rose sharply so there is no reason to believe this can’t be repeated in 2021. Elmac Technologies didn’t “lock down” for a single day in 2020. As a UK manufacturer, and a supplier to critical sectors, it was important for us to maintain an open supply chain for our customers and I am very proud of the way our staff rose to the challenge, in support of the nation’s fight against the virus, in what were often quite difficult personal circumstances.
Elmac Flame Arresters are used in a wide range of industry sectors and typical applications relevant to the pandemic include oxygen generators, pharmaceutical & sanitiser products, food & beverage production and in the storage and distribution of oil, gas and chemicals. During the lockdown, some of our customers converted their production lines to make ventilators, masks and other Personal Protective Equipment for use in hospitals and care homes. Other customers in the distillery sector swapped whisky and gin production for the high volume manufacture of alcohol-based hand sanitisers for use in healthcare, hospitality, retail, industrial and domestic environments.
2020 saw the launch of our innovative Flame Arrester Breather Valve (FAB ValveTM) range. This patent protected product range is performing very well, particularly in growing industry sectors such as Anaerobic Digestion (Biogas) and in tank storage applications. 2021 is a year in which we intend to spread our wings further reaching new markets under the ‘Global Britain’ umbrella. We will be expanding our worldwide network of agents and resellers with a focus on Latin America, South East Asia and the Middle East. We will also extend our flagship range of in-line unstable detonation Flame Arresters to market leading product sizes for niche applications.
To summarise, we need to be much more positive about the months and years ahead. Following the defeat of COVID19, we are confident that we will be well positioned to take advantage of the many new global trade opportunities. The future is indeed bright for Elmac Technologies and we wish all of our customers, employees and suppliers a very Happy New Year.”