Phoenixabc hopes business will soar thanks to Polish exports

PUB equipment maker Phoenixabc, from Sunderland, is set to take on the world – starting with Poland.

The Hendon-based engineering firm, which counts the Sonnet 43 Brew House owners Tavistock Leisure and Weatherspoons among its customers, is to export smaller versions of its LX10 automatic line cleaning machine after impressing four of the country’s biggest breweries.

Technical director Richard Mitchinson, who invented both the original 10-line and new three-line systems, said: “The responsibility for cleaning lines in Poland lies with the breweries, which is different to the UK where the landlord is responsible.

“Representatives from the brewery companies approached us because there is nothing like our system available in Europe and we were asked to adapt the system to meet their needs, as their bar set up is different to the UK,” he said.

“The number of taps in bars in Poland is far fewer than the big pubs of the UK. Our LX10 system is capable of cleaning up to ten lines at a time, but this was too much for the Polish market, and it was also a lot larger than their bars could accommodate.

Following successful trials in a number of sites in the country, the new Phoenixabc LX10 Micro system is due to be rolled out across dozens of outlets.

But the company is also looking to grow further at both home and abroad.

Managing director Rodney Marcus, who received the Polish order after taking the businesses’ wares to a trade show in Germany last year, said: “We had been considering exporting to Europe for a number of years and were looking at different markets.

“Hotels and restaurants with smaller bars will find the LX10 Micro is perfect for them. With more than a decade of consistently cleaning beer lines for large pub chains, we are confident in our system.

“And now we’ll be also be able to offer the benefits to bars of all sizes, which will help our growth plans.”