Jake Oldfield has established Extractly as a specialist online provider of equipment and parts for all aspects of Local Exhaust Ventilation
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Although a relative newcomer to the industry, the latest dust extraction company to be recognised as an Approved Ecogate Dealer and Installer, Extractly, is no stranger to the brand.
Since Ecogate made its debut appearance at the W Exhibition in 2010, installations of the energy-saving technology have been well-documented by F&JP over the years. Developed and patented in the US by Ecogate Inc, the Windows PC-controlled system was introduced to the UK by brothers Philip and Chris Oldfield – former directors of Dust Control Systems (DCS), which was acquired a couple of years ago by Filtermist International.
Chris Oldfield’s son, Jake, who started his dust extraction career as a DCS service engineer, before gravitating into engineering sales with DCS and latterly for Cades, established Extractly as a specialist online provider of equipment and parts for all aspects of Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV).
Extractly’s website includes online shopping for specialist equipment and parts, plus an online booking facility for LEV test appointments
“The aim with Extractly was to satisfy a demand from professional extraction engineers as well as the self-installer,” says Jake. “Through the online shop, Extractly has the capacity to provide just about any item you could possibly need … whether that’s a pressure gauge, Quick-Fit ducting, filter media, or even a complete new filter unit.
“We’ve been more than pleased with the performance of the online sales and distribution side of the business, particularly through the pandemic,” Jake affirms, but also admits he has continued to hanker after the more hands-on aspects of the dust extraction business.
He says: “DCS was truly a family business in every sense, and having been brought up with dust and extraction being discussed at most mealtimes and family gatherings, it could have either put me off for life, or provided the motivation to pursue a career in the industry – happily it was the latter!”
From starting out as a supply-only business, the progression to installation, servicing and maintenance was a natural process for Extractly. “Much of the early work was routine servicing, or simple ductwork refits when a new piece of kit meant an alteration or extension of an existing system,” says Jake, “but it was frustrating to see so many workshops with extraction fans running all day long when we knew there was a better way of doing things that could not only benefit the owners’ bank accounts, but would benefit the environment at the same time.”
Armed with a sound knowledge of the industry’s requirements for energy-saving systems, Extractly undertook a thorough evaluation of other technologies that had arrived on the scene over the past decade, but determined that Ecogate was still the leader in its field.
By minimising electricity consumption, an Ecogate system can easily cut power bills in half but, in addition, this automatically reduces the environmental footprint that a woodworking business makes, and Ecogate is fast becoming referred to as the ‘Sustainable Dust Extraction System’.
In conclusion, Jake comments: “I’m delighted that Extractly is now an Approved Installer of Ecogate products – it’s a system that works just as well for the smallest workshop as it does for the largest manufacturing operations, and provides a positive benefit for our environment at the same time.”
01924 520462
www.extractly.co.uk
