As part of the Rebuilding Swansea webinar, five companies were selected as business champions.
The businesses were chosen for the way they adapted and grew during the pandemic, even employing more staff and expanding their presence.
The five businesses are from across all the regions of the Swansea Bay region.
Rototherm
(Sponsor: Development Bank of Wales)
Maker of industrial measuring instruments Rototherm, which dates back to the 1880s, pivoted during the pandemic to also produce medical masks, protective face shields and equipment for health and care workers.
This saw the Port Talbot-based company producing three million PPE items a month and at one stage its headcount swelled to 400.
It is now creating 250 new permanent jobs in a new partnership agreement with the world’s leading personal protective equipment (PPE) safety eyewear specialist Bollé.
The tie-up sees Rototherm’s medical and protective equipment division, RotoMedical, becoming Bollé Safety’s exclusive UK manufacturer of PPE eyewear for the healthcare industry.
Ascona
(Sponsor: Vortex IoT)
Pembroke Dock-based Ascona Group is the UK’s fastest-growing independent service station firm.
The company was founded in 2011 by its chief executive Darren Briggs, a former strategy executive with Total Oil Ltd, in Pembrokeshire.
There are 5,450 independently owned forecourts in the UK, with Ascona benefiting from significant ongoing consolidation in the sector.
While the aim is to double in size this year to 100 service stations, in five years’ time it is targeting 300 sites UK-wide, with investment also focused on recharging points.
Hydro Industries
(Sponsor: HMT Sancta Maria Hospital)
Carmarthenshire-based Hydro Industries is a world-leading cleantech firm with global growth plans.
Last year it secured a lucrative contract with Egypt’s East Gas Company to deliver a water treatment plant to service an oil terminal on the Red Sea coast, near the popular tourist resort of Hurghada. It is now looking for significant expansion in both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic it recruited 35 new staff at its HQ at Llangennech, where it now employs 70.
Vizolution
(Sponsor: UWTSD)
Vizolution is a market-leading fintech business headquartered in Swansea.
Its technology helps enterprises replicate the qualities of face-to-face interactions within remote channels.
Its customers include major financial services, telecom and utility firms. With leading financial institutions NatWest, HSBC and Santander already being invested in Vizolution as shareholders as well as customers, the business is experiencing rapid growth. It also has a presence in London, Bristol and north America.
Business Butler
(Sponsor: M&D Care)
Swansea-based start-up Business Butler has developed a web-based business-matching engine that connects small business users with vetted local professionals across a range of disciplines from accountants to corporate lawyers.
It has already expanded into Cardiff, Bristol, Oxford and Richmond upon Thames.
