5 minute read
The new kid on the block: Nordic Chem
Matthew Cooper, UK General Manager for Nordic Chem, has been part of the cleaning and hygiene industry for nearly two decades. His mission is to drive change across the industry, keeping individuals’ physical and mental wellbeing at the forefront of the minds of business leaders.
Hi Matt, lovely to have you with us. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your career so far?
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Hi, great to be here! I’ve been in the industry for 15 years now. I started out as a contract service engineer for some big brands such as Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, Sainsburys and Tesco, in and around Central London.
After a few years, I couldn’t help but get the bug for progression, more specifically to get my name out there and begin driving change within the cleaning industry. Throughout those first few years, I regularly saw things that didn’t sit right with me and I wanted nothing more than to make a difference. From here, I kept pushing and making my way up the ladder. I went to work for another company where I looked after the likes of Wembley Stadium and Arsenal which was fantastic! My next step saw me become a senior engineer working with the likes of Costa and Whitbread and finally, I received the opportunity to set up and run a service team for another national company.
Unfortunately, I became quite seriously ill in 2019 and this time of uncertainty put everything into perspective for me. Once I had recovered, I went back to a business I worked for previously, managing contracts such as The Shard, The Gherkin and Google HQ. This move led me to my big break; a friend of a friend introduced me to Nordic Chem, and I never looked back. In 2019 through to 2020, just as the pandemic was creeping into our news bulletins, I set up on my own with the sole rights to Nordic Chem and headed up the company in the UK.
What a journey! So, what exactly is Nordic Chem?
Nordic Chem is a longterm antimicrobial coating, specifically designed to complement companies’ everyday cleaning regime. The specialist chemical bonds itself into any surface and penetrates the anchor pattern, the peaks and troughs seen on a surface under a microscope, creating a barrier, or sacrificial layer, that is oppositely charged to virus bacteria and pathogens.
How does Nordic Chem differ to other products on the market?
Nordic Chem is a long-term antimicrobial coating rather than being a sanitiser like most of the other products on the market. This means that our product doesn’t evaporate from the surface. Additionally, Nordic Chem is the only product on the market independently tested in the UK to be effective against the human coronavirus (COV229E) over 30, 60 and 90 days.
After such a long time in the cleaning sector, what big changes have you seen in the industry as a result of the pandemic?
People are certainly taking their cleaning regimes a lot more seriously, and constantly looking at how they can improve on them. While this is fantastic, my only worry is that because of the panic the pandemic induced, the education around cleaning products still isn’t as good as it should be. Individuals and companies are still being flogged products that are either ineffective or are being used incorrectly. For example, most supermarket shoppers are spraying their trollies with a ‘fast acting’ disinfectant
How does Nordic Chem work?
1.
Before applying Nordic Chem, all surfaces need to be clean. By clean, I mean they must be dust, dirt and grease free, as well as dry. Also for the best cleaning regime we recommend disinfecting first.
2.
The chemical is then sprayed on, using specialist equipment such as Mrs Buckét’s electrostatic sprayers, killing any existing pathogens in its wet state.
3.
While in its wet state, the chemical will begin to penetrate the anchor pattern of the surface, creating the protective barrier.
4.
After 90 minutes, the product is fully dry. If you were to then look at the surface under a microscope, you would see the peaks and troughs of the anchor pattern have been completely smoothed out by Nordic Chem.
5.
You would also see that this barrier has a layer of nanospikes which are oppositely charged to virus bacteria and pathogens. They act like a magnet to pull in the pathogens, penetrating the spore and rendering them inactive. Think about it as a water balloon being dropped onto a bed of nails, the balloon bursts and becomes completely useless.
6.
We suggest the process of applying Nordic Chem is every 90 days for a whole building (depending on abrasion levels) and every 28 days for regularly used touchpoints and areas of high traffic.
Interesting, and slightly worrying! So, when the pandemic finally comes to and end and things return to normal, do you think businesses are going to slip back into old habits?
While some may attempt to because of budgets, I don’t think many will get away with doing so. Any company that tries to scrimp and save money by cutting out proper cleaning regimes will undoubtedly receive massive push back from the general public who need to be reassured that they are safe. Anyone caught doing a U-turn on the hard work we have witnessed over the past year will, I’m sure, damage their own brand reputation.
To learn more about Nordic Chem and how the product could help you keep your team safe and well, visit www.nordicchem.com
which is rendered ineffective because of how it’s being used. While it states to work in 30 seconds, that’s 30 seconds of spraying the trolley handle, 30 seconds of standing back and waiting and then wiping it off with a sterile cloth. How many people are really doing this? Very, very few.
