News

Arbroath-based chemical manufacturer Stakam modified its production facility to manufacture NHS approved hand sanitisers at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The firm says it also become the first in Scotland with the ability to manufacture the polymer to thicken liquid hand gel.

Its collaboration with an Aberdeen firm has seen production climb from 500 litres to a recent order of 10,000 litres.

Stakam managing director Alastair Watson said: “At the start of the pandemic, like a lot of chemical companies, we were getting a lot of requests for hand gel.

“It wasn’t a core product for us, but our supplier introduced us to Palm Safe in Aberdeen who producing premium hand-gel but were constrained by manufacturing capacity.

“Palm Safe were making their gel in five-litre batches and demand was outstripping supply and we decided to collaborate on the project.

“We took their formulation and made a pilot batch of 500 litres in October and we have since increased that to 3,500 litre batches.

“It’s proving to be a very popular product and in one weekend Palm Safe sold out of the large batch we had made.”