Record Geotech Growth Driven by Export Demand

Geotech announces record sales growth as it enters its fortieth year. 2011 sales growth of 16% took sales over £7 million for the first time, driven by strong overseas demand. Geotech gas analysers, designed and manufactured at its UK base, are in regular use around the world. Users are involved in environmental and process monitoring applications which include biogas and landfill gas, coal mining, medical research, medical gas in hospitals, scientific and marine exploration.

Growth in orders from the EU and USA were up 19% and sales to the rest of the world were up a massive 59%. The main drivers were the increase in biogas monitoring from anaerobic digestion of waste and the need to verify CO2 levels in scientific and medical research. As well as sales through a worldwide network of specialist distributors, Geotech supplies directly to original equipment manufacturers which supply Geotech analysers alongside their own analytical products.

The company also attributes sustained growth to the reliability of the equipment it manufactures, supplies and supports. User feedback and technical support records indicate that the 63 installations of GA3000 fixed and continuous biogas monitoring systems commissioned in 2011 are functioning 99.9% of the time required – well above industry norms.

Building on a strong range of gas analysers for environmental applications, Geotech has new products in the pipeline. Spend on R&D was £1 million in 2011 and the first new product to hit the market in 2012 is the flagship portable biogas and landfill gas monitoring range, the GA5000, GEM5000 and BIOGAS 5000. Launched in January, the new range is the first portable in the market with a colour screen, an all-new platform based around a fast, modern, state-of-the-art micro-processor and IECEx certification. Early customer feedback is confirming claims that the new range is easier to use, faster and more accurate than its market-leading predecessor. Further new products will be launched into biogas, air quality and other markets during 2012.

Geotech’s MD, Steve Billingham, commented, “There is a lot of theory and talk about how to achieve business growth but we apply a common sense approach of listening to what our customers say and then ensuring we have the right people in the right roles to design and deliver the best possible products and support. We like to keep things simple - prioritise, ask questions and not be afraid to change plans, systems or teams when required. This has clearly worked well for us and we are confident that 2012 will see many more of our reliable products in day-to-day use around the world.”