Blamires are really cleaning up
WHEN your company is 50 years old you can assume there’s some leeway when it comes to dad jokes.
But Burleigh-based supplier of cleaning, hygiene and washroom product XO2 takes them to a new level.
Almost every product from the supplier comes not just with a pun-tastic name, but they often carry a second line just to bring the joke home.
Take their sandpit cleaner and sanitiser, Sandy Cracks. “I’ll clean your pits.” Chief executive officer David Blamire admits the company has a dad-jokey vibe.
“We’re cheeky, we’ve got a lot of personality but we’re also about getting down to business as well,” he said. “We like to brighten our customers’ day.
“Often the people using our products are cleaners who are working through the night so if we can make them smile that’s a bonus.”
David’s father Gordon founded the company in 1968, operating from the family garage in Ashmore.
“Back then it was called Helen Shores Cleaning Supplies before it went through some mergers, all of which led to rebrands,” he said.
Eventually the company morphed into the more innocuous Total Cleaning Supplies.
“When we did a rebrand and we took the brand through a discovery session we found the main value that our clients felt we held was care,” Mr Blamire said.
“So XO2 stands for kiss hug, or love. That is the feeling we want everyone to have when they experience our service. So while it is a bit of a lovey-dovey meaning we also wanted something that was a brandmark so that’s why we went with a alphanumeric symbol.”
Now operating from the XO2 headquarters in Burleigh Heads, the Blamire family have seen the Gold Coast change dramatically during their 50 years in business, with their product offering adapting to the changing landscape as well as the tourism and hospitality booms during that time.
With previous experience in the industrial packaging industry, patriarch Gordon Blamire made it his mission to not only keep their business ethical and consumer-oriented but attain clients for the long term.
Through the Gold Coast’s boom in tourism, technology and international events, XO2 has been able to establish a dignified list of loyal clients who trust their expertise.
Having passed the business on to sons Chris and David, Gordon’s focus is now in the mentorship and guidance of the company’s staff, a role he believes is key in ensuring that staff are happy and motivated to come to work every day. The company has grown to 19 full-time employees along with a raft of subcontractors and now sells about 2500 products.
“As a family business, it’s important we create a family environment for all of our staff,” Gordon Blamire said.
David Blamire said he joined the company in 2001, following in the footsteps of brother Chris who joined in 1999.
“We’re now a national business with some international reach so we are starting to really go for it,” he said.
“Our eCommerce platform gives that national reach and we have a growing business in Tasmania and the mainland capitals.
“We actually go better in regional Australia because I think they connect better to the humour.
“Our biggest seller is Bobby Dazzler which probably explains why we get a big following in the 40-55 year olds.
“They love the brand and they really belong to it.”