Innovention’s origins go back to the 1950s when Len Edwards was assigned in his role as a management consultant to a group of failing laundries in the north-east of England.
History
After turning the business around, a succession of similar projects followed. This led to an appointment to the British National Health Service which involved closing hundreds of small hospital laundries and creating more efficient central plants.
This in turn created an opportunity for son Mike Edwards to find a use for the redundant, unsophisticated but mechanically sound equipment that resulted from this policy of centralisation. After setting up a facility to rebuild this machinery Mike began the process of developing contacts around the world, a process that has continued to this day.
Over the years, two brothers and two sons also became involved in different aspects of the industry, at various times domiciled in the UK, USA, Malaysia and the Middle East.
Mike Edwards - Principal
Mike has more than 4 decades of experience of the Industry, with involvement in projects in every developed country and many still at the early stage of development. He is the creator of Futurail and Supertrack (laundry automation) Benchmarker (Laundry software) Aquatherm (Laundry Energy and Water systems) and has been active in a consultancy role to the Industry for 25 years. Twice winner of the Queen’s award for Industry and more recently voted ‘Most Innovative Company’ by the UK laundry industry, he is based in the UK.
Collin Field – Managing Director and Principal, Innovention Asia Consultancy for Asia Pacific
Collin has been at the forefront of laundry design and operation for over 20 years. As manager of the largest laundry in Southern Africa he developed methods and management systems which raised the standards and performance to levels unheard of anywhere on the continent. He then went on to design and build on site laundry facilities in the Philippines and Vietnam, where he is still resident. He combines a wide-ranging knowledge of laundry systems and hardware with unrivalled operational and business experience, a formidable asset to anyone planning to build from new or simply upgrade what already exists.
