TSB steps up the search for chief
WATER SAVING technology firm Xeros Technology Group has announced a 10-year contract with a leading Mexican manufacturer.
The Rotherham-based company saw its shares rise after it announced the deal with LEFARC to convert is existing re-tanning operations in León, Mexico to use Xeros’ patented polymer technology.
LEFARC, which produces leather for shoes and supplies leading brands such as Timberland, has a weekly production of 5,000 hides.
Xeros said it anticipates having the Mexican firm up-and-running with its water-saving technology by March of next year.
Mark Nichols, chief executive of Xeros, said: “This contract with LEFARC confirms that our tanning technologies are viable and play a valuable role in the production of leather.
“In partnership with our customers, we can radically improve sustainability whilst sharing in the value our innovative technology creates.
“We have successfully validated our technology through re-tanning trials for over 40 different recipes with multiple tanneries in Europe and Mexico.
“The considerable interest we are seeing from leading tanneries is a strong indication of the potential to increase rapidly the deployment of our technology in what is a global scale industry – we expect to secure further contracts into the future.”
The contract follows extensive trials which demonstrated material reductions in process inputs and effluent production and radically improves the sustainability of production, whilst maintaining high quality leather output. The deal is the second large international order for Xeros in as many months.
In August it announced the shipment of 16 washing machines to the Cape Province region of South Africa, which is suffering from a drought. Xeros is exporting its polymer bead technology as the sole distributor for the Hydrofinity near-waterless laundry systems in South Africa.
Earlier this month, Xeros reported income growth and reduced EBITDA losses. Income growth had increased to 77 per cent to £1.9m.
The group reported an adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) loss of £11.6m, down from a loss of £13.2m the year before. It’s group cash stood at £10.4m.
During the period, Xeros, signed its first Symphony Project agreement to commercialise commercial laundry technology in China and said further “commercial milestones” were on the horizon.
TSB has hired a top City headhunter as it ramps up the search for a successor to Paul Pester, who resigned in the wake of the embattled lender’s IT meltdown.
The Press Association reported that Odgers Berndtson has been drafted in to find a new chief executive who would relieve chairman Richard Meddings of additional executive duties assumed following Mr Pester’s departure.