Update from the Ideal Lab
Earlier this year, in the midst of the first UK lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, our bright technical team were busy researching genuinely industry-changing solutions for a brighter, cleaner & better future for laundry. With the industry seeing an unexpected and significant downturn (due to the restrictions placed on the hospitality industry) we were determined to use this time positively and proactively. To emerge from this crisis as a better business with a real contribution to make. We want to continue our history as pioneers in responsible British laundry chemistry with a bright future.
We know there are a lot of hyperbolic claims being made out there right now, some of which we just can’t get behind and some which are frankly outrageous and unfounded. So, we wanted to put some real science into action and further our ambitions to be the most responsible supplier of laundry & cleaning products we can possibly be.
So, we decided to enter a government sponsored competition… Business-led innovation in response to global disruption. The aim of this competition was to support UK businesses to focus on emerging or increasing needs of society or industries during and following the Covid-19 pandemic. The response exceeded expectations, especially during such difficult times.
We are delighted to announce that Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, awarded Ideal Manufacturing a de minimis grant for an exciting innovation project amidst an unprecedented and incredible response from the innovation community against 8600 applications – the highest number ever! That’s pretty cool. This is more than all of Innovate UK competitions in the 19/20 financial year put together! The response itself is also testament to the incredible capacity in the UK for developing and delivering on new innovation opportunities – and we are proud to be a part of that community. We think that’s what makes Ideal different to most other laundry product suppliers.
As a consequence, we were invited to carry out extensive practical research with leading academics, chemists, microbiologists & virologists at a University – to help validate the hypothesis. We can’t go into the detail right now, which remains under embargo – but we can say that the preliminary results have been incredible. We have since applied for a follow up award to extend the funding and complete the research. We’ll keep you posted as things develop but we are excited to be at the forefront of advances in laundry technology. More news to follow as we get to work.
