Every business has a story, and our authentic history embraces every aspect of our purpose and essentially forms the heart of our company. The highs and lows, the challenges and triumphs - all of these things make us the business we are today. We’ve definitely come a long way from where we started and it’s quite surreal to see the growth that we’ve achieved within such a short time! But what’s most humbling is that our values have always remained the same. 8 years ago we set out the goal of making the complicated process of buying filters quick, simple and easy for our customers and to this day, that is still our number one priority.
Following our recent rebrand, we decided to reflect back on FilterFinder’s story to appreciate how we’ve evolved since its founding back in 2013 - how time flies! We strive to provide the best experience for all our customers and the motivation for this commitment was outlined back when Filter Finder’s journey first started. With that in mind, let’s dive right into where it all began.
What is the history behind FilterFinder?
Before Filter Finder was even born, Micro-Mesh, the UK’s leading filter manufacturer, was founded in 1968 by four directors, including Tom Smith and Bob Underwood, the father of FilterFinder’s current CEO, James Underwood. We had a small team but all shared one common denominator; a true passion for filtration. Our primary aim was to source high-quality hydraulic filtration solutions for the mining industry. Our first enquiry came from the National Coal Board for a triple filter element used to filter in confined spaces and we continued to supply UK Coal until the final pit closure in 2015.
Over the next 30 years, we secured a plethora of jobs from customers all over the world. We branched out to new markets which included rail, off-highway, power generation, oil & gas and military applications - not to mention expanding to new premises (we turned an empty pub a few doors down into our very own factory, we just knew it had potential!). After all the craziness, James Underwood took over as Managing Director in 2003, officially putting the ‘family-run’ stamp on Micro-Mesh. Since then, we’ve expanded twice by opening both a 30,000sq/ft space for new facilities and another rear of the factory with 10,000sq/ft worth of manufacturing and warehouse space. We celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2018 and here we are today providing filtration products and components, design, prototyping and competitive manufacturing from our 40,000sq/ft manufacturing facility.
Where did the idea for FilterFinder derive from?
So, where does FilterFinder come in? The idea stemmed from our very own Managing Director James and Chairman Bob who both had the ambition to simplify filtration and part numbers for customers. After identifying a clear demand in the market, we registered our first domain back in 2013 with a burning desire to streamline the process of buying filters in order to improve our customer’s experience. With everything else going on in the background with Micro-Mesh, we parked the idea for a while but it always remained at the back of our minds. Then the pandemic hit in 2020 and that’s when it all clicked. We saw a great opportunity to turn the concept into a reality.
Fast-forward to the end of the year and we had everything ready to launch. As a team, we’d been working tirelessly throughout the year to ensure every aspect of FilerFinder was perfect for the needs of our customers. After all the hard work, we really couldn’t wait to share this project with everyone because we truly believed it would make a huge difference for the filtration industry - and that proved to be true! Our website officially went live on the 1st of December 2020 and it’s been on an upward trajectory ever since.
What does the future hold for FilterFinder?
We constantly look at innovating, evolving and advancing our offerings. Our experts know everything there is to know about filtration and we’re always on the lookout for new market trends, industry developments and ways in which we can improve our customer’s experience. Though it’s nice to look back on what FilterFinder has managed to achieve so far, it’s important to plan ahead for the future so we can carry on being the number one filtration provider out there. We look forward to seeing what’s in store for the next few years and we hope you’ll join us on this incredibly exciting journey, there’s a lot more to come!
For more information about our filtration products and services, get in touch with a member of our friendly team today at support@filterfinder.co.uk.
