Murtagh-backed waterless car-washing business sees demand soar along with temperatures
JUST like an ill wind, the drought has brought some good for one businessman — Emmet O’Brien of waterless car-washing company, No-H20.
The business, in which Kingspan chief executive Gene Murtagh invested €400,000 last year, has seen sales in Ireland grow by over 20pc in the past eight weeks. The car-wash service uses a biodegradable liquid cleaner, and the company provides an app-based mobile wash and valet service, as well as bases in several locations such as car parks.
“I wouldn’t say we are total eco warriors but a by-product of what we do is saving a huge amount of water — about 130 litres of fresh water per wash,” said O’Brien, a former professional race car driver.
Summer is usually the company’s quieter season as cars generally don’t get as dirty and people are on holidays. “But this has been our best summer to date,” he told me. “I wouldn’t quite say it’s gone viral but it’s that kind of effect.”
O’Brien, who is now based in the US, told me that the company had engaged in guerilla marketing such as teams turning up at targeted companies and offering complimentary car washes.
O’Brien acquired the global intellectual property rights for the cleaning system in 2014 and the first franchise was established in 2015, in Dubai. In the UK, the business works with car rental companies and is exporting to eight other European countries, New Zealand and Australia, among others. Some 85pc of revenue now comes from outside of Ireland.
Turnover is expected to be €2m said O’Brien who added that he is embarking on a €4m fund-raising drive to back an ambitious US expansion. O’Brien was coy about Murtagh’s involvement in the company. “He’s been a huge influence on the business. He has seen the opportunity, as we have seen it. He’s a very sharp guy.”
O’Brien said that while the company is open to further investment from Ireland, he expected that much of the company’s future fundraising would be done in the US. “The scale here has taken some time to get used to,” he said, speaking from Miami. “If you are up at five in the morning here or 12 at night, the roads are full of cars.
“They drive everywhere and it’s an average of three to five cars per household, 300 million registered cars and two billion car washes a year.”
Which may not bode well for the environment but is a massive opportunity for O’Brien.