The workplace remains the key vending location and the convenience offered by vending is vital to the up-coming We are not vending experts but it could be up for discussion,” Graeme added. • Hygiene: with vending, as with water coolers you receive a clean cup every time and avoid washing up

clarification on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, following predicted costs of up recycling - for an estimated 100,000 coolers per year, this will mean a total cost to the industry of up Most distributors are already building up a “war chest” by charging an environmental surcharge on their There is a suggestion to have a “bond” set up when the cooler is first placed, to cover the cost of future

At the time, the idea of starting up a cooler business was still rather a niche one, but with hindsight A water cooler industry colleague and friend, Alan Cornford, had started a company called Water at Work With Water at Work’s help with a business plan, and following a six month period spent persuading the The company has been based in Marden, Kent ever since. starting out of the engineering office, sitting Ben admits this was not ideal, but a start.

fact, this is how the company founder Sen Morilli (the father of the current Chairman Fabio Morilli) started At the time, POU was a very new concept so, without really knowing it, we started to do something different The system has a removable reservoir which can stay in the cooler for 12 months. In Italy, for example, the POU market is just starting out and the issue of poor tap water quality, perceived Competition helps our research and development teams to come up with new ideas, our sales team to be

The idea was daring, but many water brands gave us strong support right from the start - they believed

This is due to the fact that, throughout the rest of Eastern Europe, undersurface rivers typically end up “Since mid 2004, we have launched a new product every three months.

vibrant and exciting market, with two players battling for the number one slot and others keen to catch up