VODEX Ltd is a Hampshire-based specialist provider of fume and dust extraction systems as well as Electrostatic (ESD) protection products for a wide range of industries across the country.

Our products and specialist solutions are a result of 35 years’ experience in our field. This level of expertise allows us to provide a professional and reliable service that is tailored to the needs of our clients, no matter what they are.

Our services are especially designed to protect people and products at work across a number of industries. We aim to ensure that all our clients are performing at the top of their industries, providing safe working environments and producing high-quality products consistently.

Over the course of our 35-year history, VODEX has provided dust and fume extraction solutions to industry-leading brands and manufacturers such as Mercedes AMG, Sony, Honeywell, Rolls Royce, Eaton Aerospace, Virgin Racing, Philips and the NHS.

However, we don’t just deal with the biggest names in business. We also have a long track record of working with small businesses, education establishments, and Government. This has allowed us to build considerable experience in electronics, manufacturing and beauty, to name a few select industries.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

“At VODEX we have a clear purpose to protect people, products and working environment. We achieve this through education and supplying products and services tailored to meet the needs of our customers.

We strongly believe in safer workspaces, and our dust and fume extraction systems are designed just for that.”

OUR HISTORY

Co-Founders Poala Taylor-Riddick and Paul Riddick founded VODEX Ltd in Poala’s small garage in Southampton, Hampshire in January 2010.

The company started because Poala felt unwell after visiting a beauty salon.

Sounds strange? Here’s how it happened.

Poala had had a successful career in Financial Services cut short when she was made redundant. However, she was not someone who could sit idle so her mind was whirring with ideas for a new beginning.

One day, she went to get her nails done at a beauty salon. When she came out, she realised she was feeling nauseated and had a headache.

That was her personal encounter with the damaging effects of fume and dust in a workplace.  She spent the next 18 months researching and speaking with many nail technicians and salon owners along with various medical experts, all of whom had carried out studies on the effects of exposure levels of dust and fumes in a workplace environment.

She also spoke to a number of ladies who had experienced miscarriages, and been diagnosed with various cancers due to exposure to workplace fumes.  It became very clear to her she had to do something to help and made it her mission to raise awareness of the dangers of working without proper extraction.

The whole experience got her thinking, and she asked Paul Riddick if there was a product that could take out the bad smells and dust from salons.
She had a very good reason for asking Paul, of all people…

…here’s why.

Paul has a reputation as a Fume and Dust Extraction Product Specialist – a reputation he has built up over 35 years.

He started out as an apprentice trained Mechanical & Production Engineer at Marconi Instruments at the age of 17. Once he gained his OTC and HTC, he progressed to the design drawing office.

Then, he went on to become an Apprentice Training Instructor, and then a Senior Production Engineer.

After 10 years with the company, Paul moved to Trumpf Machine Tools as a CNC Programming and Customer Trainer.

His first sales role was with OK Industries (which later became MetCal) as a Field Sales Engineer.

After 3 years, he was headhunted to join a Fume and Dust Extraction start-up company called Purex, where his ideas started becoming very profitable.

At this point, he realised he’d rather use his skills to make himself richer than someone else.

This is when he started his first fume and dust extraction solutions company, KleenAir, with an old work colleague. Paul was in his element here, designing and manufacturing a wide range of extraction products.
The company became so successful that only after 3 years, MetCal (then OKi) bought it so it could start its own range of fume and dust extraction products.

According to the terms of the buyout, Paul was taken on as a Global Fume and Dust Extraction Product Specialist and European Distribution Manager under a 5-year contract.

After the contract period was satisfied, two ex-directors from OKi approached Paul. They wanted him to join them as they set up an Electronics Distribution Company where he was offered the role of the Technical Sales Director.

The company, Kaisertech Ltd, went from a brand-new entity to one that was worth £1.8 million.

However, at this point, Paul realised that his vision and ambition did not align with his two partners.

He wanted to use his technical knowledge and experience to build his own Fume and Dust Extraction Solutions Company. He wanted to have the freedom to design, advise, make, and install extraction solutions for customers all over the world.

So, Poala’s question came at the right time.

Paul obviously knew of a range of fume extraction solutions. He had been selling fume extraction products to all kinds of industries, especially Electronics Manufacturing, to remove solder fumes.

Extraction had become a legal requirement in manufacturing facilities after a fatality, caused when an employee was exposed to hazardous contaminants. As a result, Paul had mobile extraction units that would have served the purpose perfectly.

However, they were not ‘pretty’ enough to be in a beauty salon.

With help from Poala, Paul managed to make these aesthetically pleasing for the beauty industry.

And that is how VODEX started.

2010

The website goes live.

2011

Recieved first order in January 2011, decided to set the company up officially.

2012

The Vodex office is moved to Romsey Basepoint.
3 months later: Poala recruited her first employee
7 months later: Paul joined the business full time

2013

Needed to move to a bigger office space & aquired a small warehouse. This meant hiring a new store man, Paul!

2014

Recruited another Sales person to help Paul. We also needed to move to an even larger office with two(!) small warehouses. Continued growth lead us to move to a purpose-built commercial building at Unit 9, Claylands Business Park in Bishops Waltham, our current office.

2015

The business became a true family business when Poala’s eldest daughter, Natasia, joined the marketing team.

2016

Two new employees. These were Megs, who joined as our Order Processor, and Parris, who was Poala’s youngest child.

2017

Two new additions – Becca as the Accounts Technician, and Chris who joined to assist Paul with Technical Sales.

2018

Sophia joined the team, bringing up our number to nine employees.

Present day

As of today, after a lot of blood, sweat, tears, time, and dedication, VODEX is a business made up of fantastic people, all of whom are proud to be a part of it!

CHARITIES

We are associated with a select few charities that we feel strongly about. These are:

Asthma UK

Oakhaven Hospice

Waggy Tails

Beautiful Minds