A clear vision for workshop air quality

New leadership can often bring about many positive changes for stakeholders; everyone from employees to sales partners and customers can benefit from a fresh perspective and renewed enthusiasm. This was certainly the case when René Joppi joined UK manufacturer Filtermist Ltd as Managing Director in January 2025. René spoke to Machinery & Manufacturing about his first 18 months at the helm of a business that has undergone substantial change over the past decade.

Around 10 years ago, Filtermist was a successful UK manufacturer exporting over 90% of its products. However, the company focussed heavily on one niche area: oil mist filtration and supporting aftermarket services.

Fast forward to 2026 and the business now manufactures two additional product ranges: Dustcheck dust collectors and venting filters; and Kerstar industrial vacuum cleaners. Filtermist is also investing in its future by improving infrastructure and systems, employing and supporting the best people for specific roles, and developing the company’s product offer to meet the changing needs of its global customer base.

Meeting air quality standards

René takes up the story: “The pandemic raised awareness around the world about the dangers of breathing in contaminated air, something Filtermist and our parent company Absolent Air Care Group have been talking about for some time. The group’s vision is for a world where no-one is harmed by air pollution at work. Unfortunately for many people, occupational illnesses caused by inhaling oil mist, dust and fumes are still a real risk, but one which is easy to mitigate with effective extraction equipment.”

He continues: “Industry and regulatory requirements are moving at a rapid pace, so it’s vital that the extraction industry helps manufacturing and engineering companies keep up with evolving demands.”

Filtermist commands an envious position as part of a strong group with a presence on four continents. Moreover, the business has an active role in shaping the group’s direction and strategy to ensure the consideration of customer needs at group level. This strength is coupled with the flexibility and agility found in SME organisations: Filtermist is nimble and focuses on what the company thinks is right for its customers.

“We have very close professional relationships with many of the world’s leading machine tool manufacturers, as well as our global partners and distributor network. What’s more, we recognise the importance of developing and nurturing these relationships – especially with end users, who rely on our products to keep the air in their workplaces clean and safe to breathe.”

Digital innovation and development

Reveals René: “We’ve recently completed a ‘lean transformation’ project that helped us streamline our production operations. We’re now turning our attention to digital transformation, which includes the implementation of a new ERP system and using AI technologies wherever possible to help us work smarter.”

Filtermist is working on an exciting product development pipeline with a renewed focus on innovation. The idea is to help customers comply with local regulatory requirements around indoor air quality and position the company for its next phase of international expansion.

“The development pipeline will include several product innovations targeted at different parts of the market. While air quality has moved up the agenda in practically every country since Covid, it’s still a higher priority in some countries than others. We recognise that we can’t take a ‘one size fits all’ approach. We want to ensure that our partners have the right solution for the right cost, in line with their specific requirements.”

Sustainability and people

As a long-standing business offering products that bring about health, safety and environmental improvements, sustainability has been at the top of Filtermist’s agenda for a long time.

“We work hard to reduce our carbon footprint and help customers reduce their energy consumption,” reports René. “Furthermore, we invest in people to ensure they have the skills and support needed. Our people are proud of our purpose and why wouldn’t they be? Their work is actively making the lives of other workers around the world that little bit better.”

Absolent Air Care Group has ambitious carbon reduction targets. In addition, the group is witnessing increased focus on ESG (environmental, social and governance) frameworks from customers working in industries such as aerospace, defence, automotive, food and pharmaceutical.

“It’s important for many of our multinational customers that the values of suppliers align with their own – and we’re proud that ours do. Everything we undertake is focussed on helping manufacturers protect their workforces from exposure to airborne particulate as easily as possible.”

Nothing would be deliverable without the company’s people, who remain fundamental to ongoing business success.

“We’re proud to have achieved ‘Great Place to Work’ certification for four consecutive years. Also, over the past six months, we’ve introduced a range of measures designed to improve the work-life balance of employees. We take pride in the role we play locally, from our culture and community programme of voluntary team activities, fundraising and social events, to working with educational establishments.”

Looking to the future

Alignment is something that Filtermist often discusses at length, because it’s critical to achieving the company’s goals. This initial period was about setting a clear strategic direction which aligned with the needs and expectations of customers. It was also about Filtermist’s own business objectives, and aligning people and operational capabilities to deliver a first-class product portfolio backed by industry-leading customer service.

“For customers, these changes mean we’re a stronger, more responsive partner for all aspects of industrial workplace air quality. This issue doesn’t just impact worker health. Using effective localised contaminant extraction brings numerous other business benefits, such as lower housekeeping and heating bills, less risk of fires, fewer slips in the workplace, improved component quality, increased productivity, less downtime from ill health – the list goes on.”

René inherited a business with a strong reputation, an agile culture and the desire to increase global growth significantly. The past 18 months have been instrumental in shoring-up foundations to position Filtermist for the next chapter. Both René and his team are excited to see what the future holds.”