Amazing Trip to The Metsa Paper Mill in Finland

Marc and Andy braved temperatures reaching an incredible -31 degrees in a four-day extravaganza trip to visit the Paper Mills and HQ of Metsa Tissue in Mantta in Finland.

Wow what an experience! Not only to see the live production environment at the mill but to get the opportunity to drive snowmobiles on the ice, ride on the sledges pulled by a team of huskies and enjoy the food and culture in nearby Helsinki.

We cannot thank Mark Dewick, Jo Long and Vicky Anslow of Metsa enough for their fabulous hospitality. A truly memorable, informative and fabulous time was had by all.

Bee Kind!

Our Managing Director, Marc Kemp was delighted to be invited to visit the beehives at the Bee Urban site in Kennington Park by Hive Cleaning who we have been in collaboration with, though their sponsorship program, to support this worthy project.

Bee Urban is a social enterprise that aims to work with communities to improve the environment for the benefit of us all. Focusing on responsible urban beekeeping, horticulture and community growing. It’s not just about bees, people are vital to Bee Urban.

Community engagement and volunteering is important to the project, providing opportunities to contribute to the locality, be creative and reduce social isolation.

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. As part of their efforts, Hive Cleaning have pledged to sponsor a beehive for every new cleaning contract they are awarded. 

Futures Supplies are delighted to sponsor this worthy project as of one of our key sustainability initiatives.

Action Against Fake Reviews

Did you know that 97% of UK consumers read online reviews before buying! It’s therefore vital that people can trust the comments they read. Futures Supplies prides itself on delivering high levels of customer satisfaction so its crucial it can gather accurate insights on which to continue to improve its customers experience.

The UK Government has recently published its proposals for new legislation. This takes aim at fake review practices, as a part of the Digital markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. The legislation will likely come into force next year, following a consultation period.

Current draft provisions propose making it illegal to commission someone to write or submit a fake review, to post consumer reviews without taking reasonable steps to check that they’re genuine and to offer, or advertise, to submit, commission or facilitate fake reviews.

As the first bill of its kind, it gives the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) greater powers to take ‘swift and decisive action’ against lawbreakers on behalf of UK consumers.

Futures Supplies chosen review platform Feefo, the world-leading review platform, ensures that only verified buyers are asked to leave a review freeing Futures Supplies valued customers from the fear of fake reviews.

You can be confident the Feefo platform guarantees to provide real feedback and genuine insights from our confirmed customer experiences.

Let’s Bee Sustainable!

We’re thrilled to announce that Futures Supplies has teamed up with the wonderful Bee Urban project, in partnership with their main sponsor, Hive Cleaning, to support one of our many sustainability initiatives. 

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. 

As part of their efforts, they have pledged to sponsor a beehive for every new cleaning contract they are awarded. 

Bee Urban, is a social enterprise focused on responsible urban beekeeping, horticulture, and community growing, it’s a fantastic initiative that we’re proud to be a part of. 

To learn more about Bee Urban’s inspiring projects and volunteer opportunities, please visit their website at The Hive.

The Hygiene Bank Charity Evening

Futures Supplies are delighted to be a headline sponsor for the ‘The Hygiene Bank’ Charity evening in partnership with our client, the award winning commercial cleaning and facilities expert, Cleanology.

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. Futures Supplies are delighted to be part of this exciting event.

You can find out more and how you can help support The Hygiene Bank here https://thehygienebank.com/get-involved/

26 Years of Service Excellence!

As we celebrate 26 years in business, we thought it would be fun to share a few interesting facts and milestones with you.

We are a family business that was started in the original owner’s garage back in 1995! After renting premises for 10 years in 2005 we decided we were here to stay so we purchased and moved into our very own self-contained, purpose-built offices and warehouse in South London.

Members of the CHSA, the Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association since 1997, Futures Supplies successfully achieved 100% compliance to the Distributor Accreditation Scheme.

To ensuring that our customers can have confidence in the quality of goods and in the provision of our services, we have been independently certified since 1997 for our Quality Management System to British Standard ISO 9001

The company’s Manging Director, Marc started working in the business in 1998. Working through all aspects of the business, and following 20 years’ experience at the sharp end, he became the natural successor to drive the company forward and lead the young dynamic team when in 2018 his Mum retired.

After surviving the dreaded Millennium Bug our premises survived a substantial fire in 2000 which started at a neighbouring National Tyres site. Continuing to trade without any break in service, we went on to achieve our first £1million in annual sales.

In 2004 the company ethos, to effectively tackle and improve its environmental, social and economic impact on the community, saw it provide its first work experience placements to disadvantaged young care leavers.

We won our first business award in 2005 for ‘Best Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility’ and have gone on to be recognised with over 30 accolades including numerous sustainability awards as well as Best SME!

Pioneering the use of Eco-Friendly products and sustainable business practices we became CarbonNeutral certified in 2006. Delivering carbon neutral supplies to our customers we are proud to say the net greenhouse gas emissions associated with our business are ZERO.

Since 2007 we have successfully achieved certification for our Environmental Management System to British Standard ISO 14001. This illustrates that Sustainability is at the heart of our business. We are passionate and committed to ensuring that we meet the needs of today without compromising those of future generations, through minimising negative impacts on our planet and our people. We purchased our first fully electric van in 2008!

Early adopters of social media and our first tweet went out on Twitter in 2009!

One of the few independent family business in our industry, we genuinely care about our customers. Our growth has been organic and as a result of consistently delivering high levels of Service, Quality, Value and Reliability with Environmental Consideration through Innovation and Technology.

We still supply our very first customer and have been since 1995! We believe in working in partnership with suppliers and customers, taking into account their individual needs, to deliver the best possible customer experience.

Dan, our operations Manager, and Andy our Office Manager, are brothers and have worked in the business for over 20 years. We think our team are our heroes, operating throughout the Covid Pandemic since March 2020, they are key workers supplying essential services and products to valued customers ensuring they could continue to open and run their businesses.

Happy New Year From Us All At Futures Supplies

It has been a tough year for everyone and as such, never has there been a more important time to continue to support each other.

As 2020 comes to a close, we really cannot thank all our loyal customers enough for your support throughout these turbulent times. Rest assured we will continue to go above and beyond to exceed your expectations in delivering an exceptional customer experience.

Our carefully selected suppliers will continue to receive our full support and we are grateful for your help in what has been one of our most challenging years in our 25 years of trading.

Our heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones from this awful virus. If nothing else this year has taught us all to be kind, think of others and remember business is not just about the bottom line but giving back and standing together to overcome this enormous challenge.

We hope 2021 will bring better times for us all in the meantime all the team at Futures Supplies would like to wish you and your families a very happy New Year and everything you wish for.

Marc Kemp, Managing Director.

Lockdown 2.0 – What this means for Futures Supplies & its clients

 

 

With the pending lockdown coming into force on Thursday, we’d like to remind all our valued clients that we will be open and operating as usual operating as an essential provider throughout the lockdown period.

Ordering and COVID Safe Deliveries & Collections

  • Ordering – Please continue to order as you would usually: Phone, Email or Online
  • COVID Safe Deliveries – All our delivery vehicles are sanitised daily & all drivers provided with alcohol gel & sanitising wipe kits. Our delivery team will wear face masks and adhere to social distancing to carry out your deliveries safely.
  • Collections and Click & Collect – Collection from our premises in Purley Way, Croydon is still operational although no access to our building or facilities.
  • Delivery Timescales – There may be some delays with non-stock items, the office will keep you informed if there are any stock issues and work together to offer a suitable alternative where necessary.
  • Failed Deliveries – If you are closing or have adjusted delivery hours – please inform us immediately to prevent failed deliveries and subsequent charges.

If you have any questions or would like help making your workspace ‘COVID Safe‘ our team will continue to be on hand to help 020 8689 2072

The Futures Supplies team have never been more grateful to be open and working together to keep businesses functioning safely and sustainably.

Keep Safe & Thank you for your continued support

Marc Kemp
Managing Director

 

Face Masks Offer - Free Alcohol Gel
Face Masks Offer – Free Alcohol Gel

Are Your Deliveries Carried Out by A Carbon Neutral Certified Company?

As an ethical business, our ethos is to deliver service, quality, value, reliability, with a commitment to environmental sustainability, using the most up to date technology and innovation.

Futures Supplies are committed to integrity and transparency in the way we operate, how we supply goods and services and in our business partnerships.

We believe that whilst it is critical, it is not enough to just reduce carbon emissions through our certified Environmental Management System BS EN ISO 14001:2015 targets. Therefore, we offset our unavoidable emissions through our partnership with The CarbonNeutral® Company in a responsible best practice model.

Unfortunately, we all have to use energy as part of our commercial process and therefore, until technology and innovations can provide more answers to help further reduce or eliminate emissions, ‘offsetting’ is the only way to deal with the problem.

In partnership with The CarbonNeutral® Company, Futures Supplies is delighted to have achieved CarbonNeutral® status since 2006. This accreditation positions us as an industry leader with one of the strongest and most credible approaches to climate change.

As a result of our reduction process coupled with measuring the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and offsetting the unavoidable emissions associated with our business, our carbon footprint is reduced to net zero.

You can read more about our environmental approach and our green awards here http://www.futures-supplies.co.uk/environment.asp

Have You Got Confidence In Your Supply Chain?

As Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association Accredited Distributor, Futures Supplies are committed to trading ethically and maintaining standards in the industry and throughout its supply chain.

We are delighted that the Cleaning & Hygiene Suppliers Association has launched an Accreditation Scheme for the Manufacturers of Cleaning Chemicals alongside its already recognised Manufacturing Standards Accreditation Schemes for Soft Tissue, Plastic Refuse Sacks and Industrial Cotton Mops and its Distributor Accreditation Scheme.

This means the CHSA has achieved its strategic ambition of accrediting all members. The combination of the Association’s rigorous Code of Practice and its Accreditation Schemes guarantees its members trade ethically and work hard to maintain standards in the industry.

The existing Chemical Manufacturing members of the CHSA have passed the Scheme audit and are now Accredited. The members of the Scheme as it launches are (in alphabetic order): Bio-Productions, Chemex International, Diversey UK, Eastern Valley Chemicals, Easy Cleaning Solutions, Evans Vanodine International, GoJo Industries, Greyland, Holchem Laboratories, Kitchenmaster NI, Mirius, P&G Professional, Prochem Europe, PVA Hygiene, SC Johnson Professional and Selden Research.

All members of the Scheme have signed a commitment to maintain the highest standards and trade ethically. They have successfully passed an audit, conducted by the CHSA’s Independent Inspector, against that commitment. This includes is a determination on the part of Scheme members to support and facilitate the recycling of the plastic containers holding the cleaning chemicals, initially by including the recycling emblem on the packaging.

The Schemes mean buyers of cleaning and hygiene products can be certain they are trading with an ethical company and that ‘what’s on the box is what’s in the box’. Through its Accreditation Schemes and Code of Practice, the CHSA maintains standards in the industry.