“We’ve grown our workforce by over 40% and are planning further infrastructure developments to expand capacity in all divisions of the business”

 “We’ve invested continually in our products and services”

“Increased demand for medical device manufacturing and automation has seen the arrival of 11 new machines and the expansion of the cleanroom facility”

“We’ve invested in our Flood Defences, using a Welsh-based expert in the field.” ​

Rod Parker explains his philosophy of always buying as locally as possible: 

​“If I can’t buy in my borough I buy in Wales; if I can’t buy in Wales I buy in the UK. If I can’t buy in the UK then I have to go to Europe, and if I can’t buy there then I go further afield.”

This goes for everything from recruiting staff to buying fork-lift trucks. The benefits are manifold, not least to the environment. Gwalia’s manufacturing process is not far off being carbon neutral, helped by its short-distance supply lines.

Take the hand sanitiser bottles it’s being filling since Covid, for example. All the bottles and bottle tops are made in-house at Treforest, the gels come from Llandow or Port Talbot, and labels are made in Llantrisant. Even the pallets for the fork-lift trucks are made in Tredegar.

“There’s a big drive for companies to reduce their carbon footprint, and to prove that they are all through their supply chain,” says Rod.
​
“So if they buy from a British company which is making everything on site or within a 20-mile radius, straightaway they’re reducing their carbon footprint compared to if they are buying from China or Turkey. Recently we’ve seen people flying supplies in, so their carbon footprint has gone through the roof.”

“All our equipment that we’d taken three generations to build up and develop, all our tooling, the new automated kit for Geko and Firefly, all that was totally wiped out,” ​said MD Rod Parker, grandson of one of the company’s founders.

“We’re competitive, which is why we continued to have strong sales after the market for alcohol gel started to drop off in the summer,” Rod said.

​“The idea was to build a site in Treforest which behind the walls was state of the art, with clean rooms, all the facilities, all the engineering and electrical, all the circuit board knowledge, but not have a big fancy half million sq ft building with a lot of directors pulling £200,000,” he said.

Councillor Robert Bevan, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Enterprise, Development and Housing, said: “This year has presented an incredibly-difficult challenge for organisations like businesses and voluntary groups, who have had to deal with the terrible flooding in Storm Dennis and the Coronavirus pandemic which has changed huge aspects of our society.

“Gwalia Healthcare was one of those businesses affected by both emergency situations, having been halted by Storm Dennis – and having to convert to a 24/7 operation in the following weeks due its compromised manufacturing capabilities. Despite this huge challenge, the company was able to convert its manufacturing to produce hand sanitiser for those working on the frontline.

"Six months on, the company continue to do invaluable work, and has approached the Council with a considerable donation of hand sanitiser to help voluntary groups who are getting back on their feet following the Coronavirus pandemic. I’d like to thank the company’s owner Rod Parker and his team for this generous donation, which will make a big difference to these local groups.

​“The Council has distributed 56 bottles each to a range of organisations – from local sports clubs to community groups and venues, food banks, Scouts groups, community associations, chapels and churches, village halls and museums. This is another example of Rhondda Cynon Taf communities coming together and looking out for one another in our collective response to the pandemic.” 

​Rod Parker, owner and director of Gwalia Healthcare, said: “It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, having re-established the business after the flooding. We weren’t making hand sanitiser or gel before COVID-19, but we thought as a large number of our industrial customers wouldn’t need their orders from us, why not focus on producing hand sanitiser ourselves?

“We could already make the empty bottles, and could source the gel and alcohol within a 10-mile radius. We had a call from the Council, which needed as much hand sanitiser as we could make for its staff – and we produced 12,000 bottles in that first week as an emergency. That was without a filling line, nor did we have a squeezing dispensing pack for the product.

“We’ve since established a filling line and continue to have lots of enquiries from UK public bodies. We do all of the process in house – from making the product, caps and bottles, to filling and packaging, which gives us an advantage over anyone else doing this. 

“The product travels about 15 metres from one machine to another, so there’s no external packaging or storage either – we’re a one-stop-shop. As a result of all of this we can ensure the product has a very low carbon footprint. 

“We are in the process of investing £500,000 into our production capability which can supply up to one million bottles of certified gel per week – and this has been the catalyst for creating 13 new jobs, with more to come.”

Councillor Robert Bevan, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Enterprise, Development and Housing, added: “Gwalia Healthcare, like many other affected businesses across Rhondda Cynon Taf, deserves huge credit for its response following February’s flooding. The effects of Storm Dennis will be felt for years to come, and it has been followed by a national health emergency which has itself brought many businesses to a standstill.

“The Coronavirus outbreak brought a wide-spread shortage of hand sanitiser, and the Council is very grateful for the support it has received from Rod Parker and Gwalia Healthcare, who have supplied us with 20,000 bottles which we are providing for our frontline and home care staff."
 
“Gwalia is a tremendous success story – now mass producing a new product using locally-sourced materials, and providing help for public bodies across the UK. Its product also has a very low carbon footprint as it is produced entirely in-house, and Gwalia’s significant investment into its manufacturing process has created 13 new local jobs to date, which is a huge boost.”