Turning your washing machine down to 30 degrees may use 30 per cent less energy, but what if you could remove most of the water, halve the energy use, and slash the amount of chemicals used in each wash?

 

Rotherham-based start-up Xeros is doing just that and last week announced its intention to file for a £100m IPO on the London-based AIM market in March to support its ambitious expansion plans.

 

Xeros, trading under the Greek word for dry, has developed a commercial washing system that uses nylon-polymer beads in place of water. Spun out of the University of Leeds in 2006, the company has expanded to deliver 30 commercial installations, including a Hyatt hotel and cleaning company Jeeves of Belgravia, and expects to install a further 120 units this year.

 

Jonathan Benjamin, president of Xeros North America, says the technology has obvious attractions for the $90bn commercial laundry and retail dry cleaners market. "What we have is essentially a washing machine that by and large runs exactly like a traditional washing machine but with a lot of benefits". "We're able to lower water use to the tune of 80 per cent [and] lower energy usage and chemicals by 50 per cent. In some cases sustainability is about spending more, but in this case it reduces the operating costs for the target markets we're going after."

 

Currently, the company is not sharing its vision for a domestic version of the technology, but a new approach may be needed.