As we move further into the 21st century, the corporate world is no longer focused simply on delivering effective products but also on how our products impact our environment. That idea—creating effective, environmentally responsible products—is at the heart of CopperCoat Pacific Ltd.
CopperCoat Pacific specialises in anti-fouling solutions: unique coatings that both protect the hulls of boats and prevent marine growth, but with a twist. Traditional antifouling paints erode, leeching biocides into the marine environment that kill plankton and other species. CopperCoat, on the other hand, is an epoxy coating infused with recycled copper, which is non-eroding and thereby preserves our marine life while also protecting the hulls of vessels to which it is applied.
CopperCoat Pacific’s range is engineered for commercial vessels, super yachts, leisure craft and high-performance vessels. “Most anti-fouling products require replacement every 12 to 18 months,” Richard Cleave, founder of CopperCoat Pacific explained, “but CopperCoat is fully effective for ten or more years. Our clients’ vessels are out of the water for much less time, minimising maintenance costs for all vessel types and significantly minimising non-productive periods for commercial vessels.”
Richard has a long history of being on the water. He was a competitive yachtsman for 25 years before founding CopperCoat Pacific. “Salt water is in my blood,” he said. One of Richard’s aims is to make it easy for companies and individuals to make the transition to their long efficacy, environmentally responsible coatings. That’s why CopperCoat Pacific’s product range now includes a biodegradable anti-fouling paint remover. “Traditional methodologies for removing anti-fouling paint are labour intensive, lengthy and costly procedures with constant exposure to toxic materials,” Richard said. “We have addressed and removed each of these issues with our biodegradable DeFOUL product.”
Clearly, CopperCoat is a winner for the vessel, the owner and the environment. In order to bring such products to the market effectively and continue to grow CopperCoat Pacific, Richard needs a great team around him. Alongside an excellent 3PL warehousing and logistics group, Richard works closely with LP Assist.
LP Assist was initially brought on board to expand the functionality of CopperCoat Pacific’s accounting software. “We already had Xero but it wasn’t performing for us, so Georgia did a lot of work to refine it and set it up in a useful way,” Richard said. “We’re pushing Xero to its inventory management limits and that’s only possible because Georgia understands the software so well.”
Now, the team at LP Assist manage CopperCoat Pacific’s monthly bookkeeping. Georgia Goodman, Division Manager, meets with Richard monthly to examine the business’s financial position. “Not only do I get essential monthly reports but I also know that if anything doesn’t look quite right, Georgia will have done a deep dive to identify a cause,” Richard said. “Georgia understands my business and my priorities, and she cares about where the business is going. That’s important to me. It’s more than just a bookkeeping service.”
As for the future, CopperCoat Pacific is already expanding into the commercial vessel market, including fishing, tourism, coastal shipping, port authority vessels, and more. “In our two years in business, we’ve seen great growth and our trajectory is really quite exciting,” Richard said.
