First Water 2010 Review

2010 saw year on year sales growth in our core woundcare business of almost 30%, with a corresponding doubling of net profits. It has been very rewarding to see the development projects of the past years coming to fruition, including:

• the launch of our new hydrocolloid-based dressings in both the US and EU
• the launch of our new foam-based technologies in the US, with the EU shortly to follow
• the completion of two key developments for absorbent gel dressings with antimicrobial functionality
• a major advancement to our blister dressing range, due to be commercialised very shortly
• important new developments in the field of emergency medical care.

2011 will be a year of investment, the main focus being the expansion of our manufacturing facilities in Ramsbury. The major addition to our current wound dressings manufacturing unit is due to be operational from Q4 2011.

We've also been re-structuring and adding to our Management Team, in order to ensure that we can effectively manage the increasing range of projects in the pipeline. Headline hires in 2010 were Bruce Slaymaker as our new Quality & Regulatory Affairs Manager, and Dr Mark O'Brien as Product Development Manager.

Thanks to all our suppliers and customers for making 2010 our best year yet.