On Friday 6th Sept our Managing Director attended Katrin Professional Hygiene Solutions’ 50th Birthday celebration at Ascot along with Metsä Tissue’s management team.
Despite the weather, it was a great day to celebrate the fabulous achievements from the last 50 years of Katrin innovations and success.
What’s more, we help raise almost £1,000 for The Hygiene Bank.
Thank you for a great day!
L-R: Mark Dewick, Mika Paljakka, Jo Long MBICSc, Marc Kemp
We have loved celebrating Dave and Ian’s amazing 10 year anniversary at Futures Supplies.
Wow what an achievement hey!
Some say how have we managed to put up with them for so long but we’d definitely say we are lucky to have them.
We are super grateful for all their hard work, loyalty and for being such a big part of our journey.
Here’s to the next 10 years guys, we love you.
| Why is bamboo so good for the environment? Bamboo absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide, grows without the need for chemicals, and helps prevent soil erosion. Its rapid growth cycle means it can be harvested frequently, helping reducing deforestation without damaging the environment, making it a sustainability super-plant! Is bamboo good for people with allergies or sensitive skin? Bamboo fibres are naturally hypoallergenic and have antimicrobial properties, making them ideal for people with sensitive skin or allergies. I read bamboo is a really invasive plant? Like many other plants, bamboo shouldn’t be planted where it’s not native. That’s why the bamboo grown for the Cheeky Panda is sourced from an FSC Certified Bamboo forest in China where it grows naturally and support the local habitats and eco-systems where the flora and fauna flourish in the surroundings of the bamboo shoots. That way, we get the environmental benefits of bamboo, without taking away or affecting ecosystems in other regions, and there’s no need to clear-cut any land either. Is bamboo toilet paper better than recycled? You probably know where we stand on this (bamboo all the way!). There’s a few reasons for this. Firstly, while recycled tissue might sound eco-friendly, the truth is it’s not always what it seems. Sometimes, less than half of it is actually post-consumer recycled. The rest? Freshly cut trees. Not exactly planet-friendly. An other issue with recycled TP is BPAS, which are forever chemicals that have been shown to mess with fertility, hike up blood pressure, and more. Finally, cleaning up recycled paper to turn it into toilet roll involves a chemical cocktail that might end up in our waterways – not so great for nature and our aquatic pals. How is bamboo toilet paper made? Our journey begins in the lush bamboo forests where this incredible plant thrives. Did you know that Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth? This humble grass is capable of growing up to 91 cm (about 3 feet) in a single day. Unlike trees that take decades to mature, bamboo reaches maturity in just 3-5 years. This speedy growth cycle means bamboo takes the gold in the renewable resource race, one of the reasons we choose it for our home essentials. Plus, the bamboo we choose comes from FSC certified bamboo forests, so we can be sure that all our bamboo is sustainably harvested, and farmers are treated ethically. When it comes time for our bamboo to get a haircut, we take great care to protect the forest’s biodiversity. Each bamboo pole is harvested one at a time, rather than clear-cutting large areas, which happens in virgin tree forests. This selective harvesting method ensures that the bamboo forest remains healthy and continues to support the diverse range of flora and fauna that call it home. By avoiding clear-cutting, we help preserve the forest ecosystem, ensuring it can regenerate naturally and continue to thrive. No Bald patches for our forests. Once harvested, the bamboo poles are taken to a processing facility where they are chipped into smaller pieces. This is the first step in transforming raw bamboo into ready-to-use pulp. The chipping process helps break down the bamboo into a form that can be more easily processed in the pulp mill, where the magic of turning bamboo into paper begins. We use sea freight for all shipments from China to the UK because it has the lowest carbon footprint, thanks to large cargo capacity, slow steaming, cleaner fuels, and emission controls. In contrast, recycled tissue, despite being converted in the UK, often travels around the world as there isn’t enough recycled pulp available locally. UK converters frequently source recycled materials internationally before final converting and packaging. For example, recycled pulp might come from the USA, be pulped in China, and then shipped to UK converters for final processing. Our supply chain is straightforward and efficient, saving airmiles and going directly from forest to you. We also ensure that our products and processes comply with environmental regulations and standards. This includes monitoring our use of chemicals, managing waste responsibly, and ensuring that our packaging is recyclable. Our converting factory uses renewable solar energy, with at least 95% of processing water recycled and reused. Environmental education is prioritised, and we’re proud to boast that our factory multiple environmental awards. |
Futures Supplies are delighted, for the second consecutive year, to be a headline sponsor for the ‘The Hygiene Bank’ Charity event in partnership with our client, the award-winning commercial cleaning company Cleanology.
We are privileged to be part of this exciting event which has seen over £78K raised so far toward elevating hygiene poverty.
The Hygiene Bank believe that basic hygiene is not a privilege and their vision is that one day everyone living in the UK will have access to essential hygiene products. With a mission to bring communities, businesses and thought leaders together they hope to tackle hygiene poverty providing access to products and being a voice for change.
This year the event is being held on Wednesday 9 October at the Hard Rock Café in the heart of London. Up to 200 expected guests are expected and can look forward to an evening of entertainment including a live DJ, networking, cocktails, Hard Rock classic burgers, a lively auction and raffle with amazing prizes, all in the surroundings of a venue renowned for its authentic dining.
Tickets are priced from £75 +VAT each and are available on Eventbrite, with all profits donated to The Hygiene Bank: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hygiene-bank-charity-evening-2024-hosted-by-cleanology-tickets-927732973297
Find out more about and how you can help support The Hygiene Bank here The Hygiene Bank
Our Managing Director, Marc was delighted to be invited to Palmer Sports, Bedford Aerodrome, for an exciting day of spectacular driving hosted by Metsa Tissue.
Guests got to drive the Famous Palmer car collection in a flat-out, eight-activity programme with live timing, scoring and prizes for the day’s best drivers.
Palmer Sports, billed as the world’s greatest driving event, is a motorsport experience like no other. In one perfect day, guests get to drive an unrivalled collection of track prepared, road and racing cars, and are encouraged to push themselves harder than they ever imagined possible.
Marc Said “I cannot thank Mark and Jo of Metsa Tissue enough for their fabulous hospitality. It was a great opportunity to strengthen and build further relationships with our supply and distributor partners. An exhilarating and unforgettable experience with the added bonus of collecting a winning trophy on the day!”
At Futures Supplies we recognise that our business activities have an unavoidable impact on the environment. Our approach is therefor to support the environment by continually striving to make it part of our ethos to reduce the creation of waste through recycling.
This approach is applied throughout our organisation and through third parties involved in, or with our business, in such a way to facilitate the protection of the environment. We are committed wherever possible and practicable to sustainable practices, encouraging similar standards from all customers, suppliers, and contractors on environmental matters.
As part of this commitment to reduce, reuse, and recycle, we strategically segregate all our scrap plastic film waste such as stretch pallet wrap, pallet covers and plastic packaging.
This plastic waste is collected on pallets by our supply partners and reprocessed into recycled pellet ready to be re blown into new films for reuse in the recycled range of refuse sacks we sell thereby closing the recycling loop.
We have also successfully implemented measures to reduce and recycling all of our paper, card and plastics. Our printer cartridges are recycled and postage stamps are recycled through the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
Regularly independently audited and recognised with numerous green accolades, we currently recycle over 75% of our waste, proving small steps can have a big impact!
Our friends at Hive Cleaning have created an amazing project with over 6 acres of meadowland in Devon which they have appropriately named ‘Hive Wood’.
Their aim over the next 15 years, through this project is to help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, enhance the biodiversity for flora and fauna and return the wood back to traditional broadleaf forest.
Louis Beaumont, Hive Cleaning’s Manging Director, brought together an energetic team consisting of their family members, staff and clients as well as our Manging Director, Marc who was only too happy to get stuck in with the team helping to plant trees to support this fantastic project.
Our friends at Hive Cleaning are a B Corp certified, ethical office cleaning company who are committed to making a positive impact on the environment and were delighted to support them in this worthy initiative.
At Futures Supplies we believe that volunteering is good for both physical and mental wellbeing. It’s good for the planet too especially when it involves supporting our client and planting trees!!
Futures Supplies are delighted to be supporting the Royal National Institute of Blind People through its regular donations of used postage stamps.
The RNIB are committed to their fundraising appeals to raise awareness of sight loss, demonstrating the positive impact of donations and by highlighting where more support is needed.
The generosity of any donations helps enable the RNIB to continue to support those with sight loss and break down barriers for the increasing number of people with sight loss now and in years to come.
We believe that small actions can make a big difference so help us make the world a better place for people with sight loss by visiting the RNIB website to see how you can help too.
What a great evening at the Dockside Vaults, St Katharine Dock in London for the Business Junction Spring Expo 2024.
Thanks to Dean from The Modern Agency for your hospitality. An enjoyable and informative event with interesting and varied businesses exhibiting some great innovations.
Lots of exciting things are on the way at Futures Supplies so watch this space!
www.futures-supplies.co.uk
As we mark our 29th year in business, we at Futures Supplies take a moment to reflect on the milestones and achievements that have shaped our journey. What began as a humble family business in Mandie’s garage back in 1995 has evolved into a leading independent distributor of washroom, cleaning, janitorial, and associated products, catering mainly to the B2B sector.
In 2005, after a decade of growth and dedication, we made a pivotal decision to invest in our future by purchasing our own self-contained, purpose-built offices and warehouse in South London. This move not only solidified our commitment but also provided us with the infrastructure to better serve our expanding customer base.
Quality has always been at the forefront of our operations. In 1997, we achieved independent certification for our Quality Management System to British Standard ISO 9001, ensuring our customers’ confidence in the quality of our goods and services.
The transition of leadership within the company has been seamless, with Marc, our Managing Director, stepping into the role in 2018 following his mother Mandie’s retirement. With over two decades of experience within the business, Marc brings a wealth of knowledge and a vision to drive our company forward.
Our journey hasn’t been without its challenges. From surviving the Millennium Bug to overcoming a substantial fire in 2000, we have persevered, never faltering in our commitment to our customers. In fact, it was amidst these challenges that we achieved our first £1 million in annual sales in the same year as the fire.
But it’s not just about business success; it’s also about making a positive impact on our community and the environment. Since 2004, we’ve been dedicated to improving our environmental, social, and economic footprint. From providing work experience placements to disadvantaged youth to pioneering the use of eco-friendly products and sustainable business practices, we’ve remained steadfast in our commitment to sustainability.
Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. Over the years, we’ve been honored with numerous awards, including the prestigious Green Mark accreditation, recognizing our dedication to corporate social responsibility and sustainability.
Innovation has always been at the heart of what we do. From being early adopters of social media to introducing a complete environmental product range, we’ve continuously embraced new technologies and practices to better serve our customers and the planet.
As we look ahead to the future, we remain committed to our core values of service, quality, value, reliability, and sustainability. Our refreshed logo, unveiled in 2024, symbolizes our evolution, growth, and optimism for the future—a future where we continue to shine bright as a beacon of excellence in our industry.
We are immensely proud of our team, whose dedication and hard work have been instrumental in our success. From Andy, our Office Manager, with over 22 years of service, to Ian, our driver, and Dave, our Warehouse Manager, each member of our team plays a vital role in our journey.
And to our customers, suppliers, and partners, we extend our sincerest gratitude for your continued support and trust. Together, we look forward to shaping a future where sustainability, innovation, and excellence go hand in hand. Here’s to the next 29 years and beyond!
