AT just 22, Nicson White is
cleaning up with his international sanitisation
business Health Protect International (HPI).
White started the business in 2005 with his mother,
Janice, after recognising a significant opportunity
in Australia and New Zealand with mattress
sanitisation in hotels. The company now operates a
network of more than 80 licensees who provide
mattress sanitisation for hygiene and allergy
relief.
Last year, HPI turned over more than $1.5 million
and is on track to lead the SME market in the
sanitation industry with its new Healthy Hotels
Program - an initiative that allows the public to
book accommodation according to hygiene via the
Healthy Hotels Guide.
More than 60 hotels and accommodation providers
across Australia have signed up to the program,
including Sebel, the Radisson, Crowne Plaza and Best
Western. According to Colmar Brunton (2007)
cleanliness is now travel consumers’ number one
priority.
The program is set to become the global benchmark
for accommodation providers, who will be required to
meet strict hygiene standards in areas such as
regular mattress sanitisation and room cleanliness.
"The Healthy Hotels Program is the first of its kind
in the world and will ensure that participating
providers are meeting minimum standards when it
comes to providing their guests with clean
accommodation bedding," says White.
Under the program, participating providers will be
required to have their mattresses sanitised
bi-annually using a patented, four-stage cleaning
process. Providers will be given certification from
HPI that entitles them to use the program's logo in
their promotions to consumers.
"It is this dry-cleansing process which forms the
backbone of the Healthy Hotel Certification, because
it is the only process whose head company is
actively involved with an Asthma Foundation, setting
it apart from any other alternative method
available," says White.
Using information from groups such as the Asthma
Foundation, scientific institutes and conducting his
own research, White made an alarming discovery when
first starting out in the industry. Mattresses are
not only a hot-bed for dust mites, but for
allergens, pathogens, viruses, bacteria and other
harmful micro organisms.
He says we sleep with these bugs every night, but
very few people go to the trouble of sanitising
their mattress to kill them off.
"It's really a hidden problem, one of those out of
sight, out of mind things," says White.
"My focus was to highlight this issue and to create
a successful business around sanitisation. A high
percentage of Australians suffer from asthma or
sinus conditions related to dust or pollen and
research has shown the average mattress can contain
up to two million dust mites.
"An average home will keep its mattresses for five
to 10 years before replacing them. Worse still, an
average mattress will be slept on 2,500 to 3,000
times without ever being sanitised.
" Through research, White was able to develop
specialist mattress sanitisation equipment and
approved treatment solutions from the company
factory at Oxenford. He then set about building a
network of licensees to service residential and
commercial customers, firstly in Queensland and then
around Australia and New Zealand.
In the first year, the business turned over about
$1.3 million in revenue and sold more than 50
licences throughout Australia and New Zealand.
"Education has been the biggest challenge," explains
White, who dropped out of university to pursue his
ambition.
"Our licensees have had to create the market as they
go. The plan was to get a network around Australia
for our operators. It had to be profitable for them.
" Each of HPI's operators effectively run their own
businesses, sanitising homes, hospitals, aged-care
facilities, hotels and other accommodation sites.
There are no ongoing fees or royalties, HPI deriving
its profit from ongoing product orders.
"The model works really well, because each licensee
effectively controls their own business," says
White.
"They are in control of their own destiny and,
depending on the number of customers they service on
a regular basis, can make a very comfortable living
from their business. When I left uni, I worked with
a sales and marketing company. I established a
network while there and ended up filling a licensing
role - and had to do a lot of support with the
licensees.
" HPI has experienced phenomenal growth and the
company plans to expand its services into other
countries in the medium term. White also has plans
to list on the stock exchange, but will first
register HPI as a publicly unlisted company next
month.
"I believe that no hygiene conscious person,
allergic or asthmatic person should be subject to
the ongoing symptoms of dust mite presence in the
home and workplace," he says.
"Many consumers haven't considered having their
mattress sanitised, until they discover the process.
I aim to make the world more aware of the process so
that by providing education and service through our
network, we can then provide help to the 30 per cent
of the population who suffer and the remainder who
see the need for health and hygiene."
