A North Staffordshire manufacturer of household and vehicle cleaning products is pressing the button on an ambitious investment drive.
Future Developments (Manufacturing), which has blended and made chemicals that go into more than 1500 different products, is spending over £500,000 on creating an additional 15,000 sq ft production facility at its Davenport Street home in Burslem and the installation of a faster filling and packing line.
The decision comes after a 30% increase in sales over the last twelve months and off the back of its latest new product launch that has seen it bring the world’s first dedicated cleaning foam for air fryers to market.
Using a unique formula that dissolves grease and food residue in minutes without the need for scrubbing or soaking, the ‘Airfryer Genie’ is already being stocked in The Range and is set to be featured in other major high street retailers shortly.
The innovation has also recently won the coveted Home & Kitchen Product of the Year title at the DIY Week Awards 2023, held in front of more than 400 people at The Royal Horseguards Hotel in London.
“It has certainly been a whirlwind period over the last year or so,” admitted Dave Williams, who launched Future Developments in 1987.
“One of our key strengths is identifying the new cleaning trends and, when we realised there was no dedicated product for air fryers, we knew we had to use our blending and manufacturing expertise to develop one.”
He continued: “We opted to do it under the Genie brand and came up with the idea of a foam that expands to reach every corner of the air fryer basket and tray, leaving them sparkling clean and ready to use again. Delivered through an aerosol can, the cleaner is suitable for all types of air fryer and is also safe for the environment.
“The growth in demand for this cooking product is phenomenal and we sold our 10,000-strong stock in the first week, with the next delivery set to reach us imminently. Scaling up isn’t an issue, we could quite easily produce over 1 million cans a year in Burslem.”
David was initially a salesperson for a chemical company before gaining enough experience to make the jump and go on his own, forming Future Developments over 36 years ago.
The company was set-up to design, blend, develop and produce chemical products for customers, but it wasn’t long before the Stoke-on-Trent entrepreneur realised there was an opportunity to launch his own brands that he could sell direct to retail.
This dual approach has been hugely beneficial for the business, which now employs 26 people across two sites in North Staffordshire and Wrexham.
From these factories, it creates household cleaning and car cleaning products for Aldi, Euro Car Parts, GSF and Michelin, as well as a growing range of its own brands, including Kleeneze and Blue Magic.
Future Developments was also instrumental during the Covid-19 pandemic, teaming up with Telford-based Complete Shield to develop a new alternative sanitising solution that is free from alcohol and chemicals.
Room Shield is an HOCL (hypochlorous acid) product and is a highly effective and easy-to-use room and transport fogger that kills 99.9% of all bacteria and viruses, including coronaviruses.
David, who has been joined in the business by his son Brad, went on to add: “The next twelve months will see us complete the investment drive and hopefully establish the ‘Airfryer Genie’ as the go-to cleaner for the hugely popular product.
“We are also looking to increase our workforce across both sites (including in design, manufacturing and commercial), as well as looking for retail outlets and distributors for all of our fast-selling lines.”
