Company Background & Information
Company Background and Useful Information
Full Company Name: Wiper Supply Services Limited
Address for ALL communications, Correspondence, Invoices and Goods Deliveries
41 Sedgwick Road, North Luton Ind Estate, LUTON, Beds LU4 9DT (UK)
Tel: +44 (0)844 209 2620 Fax: +44 (0)844 209 2621
Registered Office: 16 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AH
Co. Registration No. 2817463 (Reg. in England)
VAT Reg No. GB 626 7811 24 EORI 626 7811 24 000
CARRIAGE-PAID TERMS:
Min Order Carriage Paid Value: £635 + VAT (England/Wales)
Min Order Carriage Paid Value: £930 + VAT (Scotland/N.Ireland)
Company Info .... a potted history
Wiper Supply Services Limited was formed in May 1993 by Phil Samuels & Andrew Farleigh.
Both Phillip & Andrew have been involved in the disposable wiping cloth business for many years, gaining their experience whilst in senior management at Novatex Ltd, and used their considerable knowledge, expertise and ingenuity to build and develop WSS.
The link between WSS and Novatex goes back to the early 1970's. Novatex Ltd was founded by Sidney Farleigh - Andrew's father, in 1959. In 1971, Andrew joined Novatex Ltd, and built up the business with his brother Stuart, introducing well-known industry trade names, such as CLINICLEAN and developing the NOVATEX brand. Phillip also joined the business in the early 80's, and soon became one of the company's most successful sales executives.
In 1989, Sidney passed away, and unfortunately, the family were unable to resolve differences in the management styles of the surviving Directors. After a period of family in-fighting, two of the main shareholders decided to back Stuart, and both Phillip & Andrew left Novatex Ltd in December 1991.
Phillip formed SAMTEK, whilst Andrew founded The ONE-STOP WIPER CO LTD, both entities supplying disposables wipers and products to the trade.
In May 1993, Andrew & Phillip formed WSS, and utilising their wealth of knowledge of the business, gently nurtured and built the business, based on principles of sound management, sensible pricing and superb service!
In the early days of "One-Stop", some goods were actually manufactured by Novatex Ltd, but this arrangement did not last, and WSS opened it's own production and storage facility in a storage warehouse in Milton Keynes.
Within months, WSS had outgrown it's facility, and in 1994, WSS moved into a 10,000 sq feet factory with offices in Cosgrove Way, Luton.
This move enabled WSS to expand it's capabilities, acquiring a reroller/ slitter/ perforating machine and other key production equipment.
By the end of 1996, WSS had established a well-proved formula for success, and had expanded it's range and services to an ever-expanding customer base. It is no co-incidence that from it's earliest days, WSS employed many of the top-quality staff that had been discarded by Novatex, utilising their wealth of knowledge and experience to enhance and build the business.
In April 1998, Phillip & Andrew heard on "the grapevine" that Novatex were in financial trouble, and on 5th June 1998, Wiper Supply Services acquired the business, assets and goodwill of Novatex Ltd (in liquidation) from the Liquidator in the face of a fierce counter-bid from EASIWIPES Ltd (now defunct!) WSS agreed to take over the old "NOVATEX" premises in Dallow Road, Luton, as the anticipated additional business would just not fit into Cosgrove way!
After integrating the old Novatex business into the body of WSS, any former Novatex business that just did not pay was quickly filtered out, and the "best bits" were retained. WSS moved out of their bursting premises at Cosgrove Way, and into a 50,000+ square foot warehouse and office facility at Guardian Business Park, Luton, which was the former home of Novatex Ltd.
In October 1999, Wiper Supply Services invested "several thousands of pounds" into a major modification of their "No. 3" re-roller/slitter machine. This modification has enabled WSS to handle and re-roll/slit & perforate very large diameter rolls - up to 2 meters diameter!
This means that less material would be downgraded from very large rolls, making production even more efficient. Further technological developments being undertaken on this machine will enable WSS to control the adjustment of the length of the roll perforations by computer, making lengthy machine setup times a thing of the past.
In December 2003, Wiper Supply Services Limited achieved accreditation of BS EN ISO 9001:2008- an internationally acclaimed quality administration system. Incredibly enough, this certification took just over 4 weeks to complete, as the Company already had all of the quality management systems in place beforehand, and very few enhancements were required.
Wiper Supply Services Ltd continues to expand and re-invent itself, and has many new plans and projects in mind for the coming years.
In January 2005, Wiper Supply Services Limited commissioned two brand new quarter-folding machines to enhance their production capabilities. These are state-of-the-art machines which give WSS Ltd a competitive edge over their rivals, in terms of speed of production, quality and production flexibility.
In February 2008, Wiper Supply Services Limited relocated to their new premises at 41 Sedgwick Road, Luton, Beds LU4 9DT
In September 2008, WSS Ltd commissioned a custom-built 2-lane high-speed quarter-folding machine, to meet the increased production demands for quality quarter-folded towels. The implementation of this new machine gives WSS Ltd the capability of producing several million towels each week on a single shift.
Coupled with this new dual volume folding machine, WSS Ltd have invested in a state-of-the-art Flow-Wrapping machine which is electronically adjustable to handle and wrap up to 99 different sizes of packs.
This machine runs with a two-tier folding system which enables WSS Ltd to produce the volumes of folded towels neccessary to fulfill orders.
In 2014, Wiper Supply Services Ltd installed a 49kWp Solar PV Generator on the roof of their premises at Sedgwick Road. This state-of-the-art system generates an estimated 41,013 Kilowatt hours of electricity per annum, harnessing the power of the sun, and not only has Wiper Supply Services reduced it's use of "bought-in" electricity by about 33%, they export electricity back into the National Grid.
In August 2015, WSS Ltd completed a modification to one of their original single line quarter-folding machines, converting it into a 2-lane quarter-folding machine, to meet the growing demand for quarter-folded products. By adding this enhancement, our output from this machine has virtually doubled overnight, releasing valuable production resources for other production equipment, and thus keeping overall costs as low as possible.
By introducing this two-tier folding system modification, Wiper Supply Services has ensured that an ever-increasing demand for folded products can be met with ease. We estimate that this modification will allow us to produce at least 1 million wipes each week on this machine alone in a single-shift, leaving us room to expand production if required by adding additional or extended shifts.
In August 2017, Wiper Supply Services Ltd completely stripped out ALL of their factory, warehouse, production and office lighting and replaced it with a totally LOW-ENERGY lighting solution, controlled by microwave sensors to ensure minimal energy wastage and a "greener" footprint.