2019 in Review

Well. We’re nearly at the end of another year, and what a year 2019 has been.

For us at Humidity Solutions, it’s been a year of growth, change and exciting new challenges. The main feature of our year is that we have been able to report double digit growth for the 11th year in a row – something everyone in the office is very, very proud of. We’ve also grown our team, with a number of new staff members bringing some needed youth and life into the company – complete with the energy and ideas needed to fuel all that amazing growth.

We have become exclusive UK distributors for two new manufacturers. In April, we signed an agreement with Vapac, who manufacture electrode steam boiler humidifiers in the West Midlands – great to have a strong British brand as part of our range. More recently, we now supply a superb range of desiccant dehumidifiers from Cotes, a Danish company with an excellent reputation for quality and reliability across a wide variety of applications. Added to our existing brands, we are confident in the knowledge that we can source exactly the right equipment for any of the unique applications we come across.

We were delighted and honoured to be asked to contribute to the 2019 Parliamentary Review, to share our expertise and knowledge of the benefits of humidity control in industrial and commercial processes as well as general health and wellbeing. It is essential that politicians have a firm understanding of the challenges with which British organisations must contend, and The Review once again provides a perfect platform for this.

Of course, it’s about more than just us. Nationally, two stories have dominated the deadlines. Brexit, that seemingly never-ending saga has been keeping everyone on edge, keeping uncertainty looming over the country for yet another year. We’re quite lucky in that it’s not affected us directly too much, other than a few more customers being wary of investing, uncertain of the future of the country. Whatever your view of the outcome of the recent election, I hope that we will now at least have a period of more certainty and the government can get on and honour some of their pledges. The markets’ initial response appears to be favourable.

The area that interests us more as a business is the second story – something that’s been floating around the headlines at various points during the year, and that we can actually help with – Indoor Air Quality. Humidity control is a key part of the solution in creating a pleasant and healthy environment for employees, reducing employee absenteeism through things like colds, flu, eczema and sore eyes, and generally improving performance. Of course there are far more severe repercussions of poor air quality, its effect on internal organs and the spread of airborne bacteria and viruses. We need to work together to set clear standards, both indoor and outdoor, to improve this.

We’re noticing that this message is getting spread more and more through two international pharmaceutical companies, who are actively carrying out studies into office environments and measuring the productivity differences between those with and without humidity control. We’ve actually been involved in these studies ourselves, and it’s been a fantastic and really interesting experience. Of course, the commercial side of things is the driver, but it’s wonderful when it also means a healthier environment for people to work in. After all, many of us don’t generally have a choice but to be in an office for the majority of our waking hours in what can be a highly polluted atmosphere – up to 5 times more polluted than the outside air!!

And so Humidity Solutions enters 2020 with exciting new opportunities ahead of us as we continue our growth in the humidifier and dehumidifier sectors, along with the rapidly growing after sales servicing and planned maintenance services, which have continued to get high praise year round.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all every best wish for Christmas and the New Year – what does 2020 hold for you?