Amy Bould reports
Fuelling interest on global scale
New system can reduce carbon emissions and lower energy costs
September 2008
TELFORD company Maxsys is using pioneering technology to reduce carbon emissions and lower fuel costs for some of the county's biggest companies.
And bosses believe they could be only four years away from "shrinking" the Maxsys Fuel System to give millions of households facing soaring energy bills the same benefit.
The technology was patented in 2003 and developed with the backing of a private equity firm. It works by pre-treating fuels like gas and oil supplied to a heating unit to produce a cleaner burn with the result being lower fuel costs and reduced C02 emissions.
Paul Finnegan is the commercial director of Maxsys, which moved from Walsall to its new offices in Donnington earlier this year.
He said the company originally floundered because of a lack of business strategy and a failure to find routes to market, with Maxsys making losses of around £95,000 every month.
But the company has now relaunched, redesigned, rebranded and relocated – and is now a profit-making concern with an order book worth more than £2 million this year.
“We changed everything within the business and we are now making a small profit. We moved from Walsall to Telford because it's a modern place but it's also the birthplace of industry.
"It's got a motorway running through it and logistically we couldn't be in a better place. We are looking for five new staff before November and in terms of the company's turnover we have grown 300 per cent this year.
"If business continues like that, I would hope to double the workforce to 24 by next year."
It is certainly a remarkable turnaround for a company which at one point had only £176,000 left in the bank from an original £1.2 million investment from its private equity partners.
Maxsys now counts blue-chip companies among its client base, mainly in the chemical, food, paper and automotive sectors.
Mr Finnegan said: "Our product works by putting a fine magnetic charge on nanoparticles within the fuel. If a magnetic charge is put through it, it creates a cleaner burn. The systems are installed into existing gas or oil fuel lines on boilers, kilns, furnaces, heaters, ovens and drying plants.”
The system is a retrofit “bolt-on” piece of equipment, made in various sizes, which Maxsys says will cut fuel costs and emissions by around five to ten per cent.
Companies including Ford, Jaguar and Dairy Crest have installed Maxsys systems and the company is applying for worldwide patents, with South Africa the first to approve.
"Most of our customers are international businesses, they are big energy users and they all want to roll out around their plants.
"Ours is a bolt-on solution and some of our customers have had the investment payback within three months, typically it is about two years. The smallest project we have carried out was £20,000 and the largest was £150,000.
"We go to a company, based on their equipment, we say what we think can be done. With fuel costs rising, improving energy efficiency in order to cut costs is a strong priority for many businesses and they are also looking to reduce their carbon footprint."
"The saving on fuel costs range between five and 10 per cent, and pro rata on emissions. The efficiency can be achieved without the huge expenditure involved in completely overhauling a heating system and our solution is low maintenance, with no moving parts and it doesn't require a separate electrical supply."
"We are in a position at the moment where we are doing business in France, Germany, Italy and Austria. We haven't gone any further afield yet because I'm worried about losing the technology, so we are waiting for the patents."
Most of the systems are manufactured in Blackpool, but increasing demand means the company has brought in two new manufacturers in the West Midlands.
Mr Finnegan said: "And we're looking for more. The reality is that the product works, we have some fantastic customers and we are expanding. We are currently recruiting a graduate for sales to learn the ropes, a project engineer, a welder/fitter; we’re going to take on more premises."
Maxsys is also hoping to develop the unique technology working with experts at Aston and Birmingham Universities.
“We would like to be able to shrink the technology for the domestic market, which would require a new patent. I think we are probably about three to fours years away from that."
But from now, Maxsys is finding businesses are increasingly receptive to innovations which reduce costs.
Article was published in the Shropshire Star on Monday 8th September 2008, p4.
