An engineer who has developed specialist gas and line cleaning systems for the licensed trade is preparing to ramp up distribution after several years of perfecting the technology.
Ross Thompson of Apex Gasgen developed what would become the Draught Doctor system while working part-time in a golf club.
Developed specifically for use in hospitality, there are two units: a Nitrogen gas generator that is used for dispense – eliminating the need for separate Nitrogen canisters – and a line cleaning system that offers easy line cleaning, with users able to switch between water and the cleaning fluid mixer at the touch of a button.
Thompson said both systems can save hospitality operators money in the course of the year by reducing the number of commercial gases they have to purchase as well as cutting the staff hours required for the line cleaning and the volume of cleaner used by the outlet.
“With our system you’re only buying one canister – the CO2 – but you’re buying fewer of them. Significantly fewer,” said Thompson.
“With our system you’re buying fewer CO2 canisters.”
“We had a customer that was ordering six bottles every two weeks. They then went to three bottles every six weeks.”
In addition to saving on the number of CO2 canisters required, Thompson argued that the system can help to partially insulate bar, pub and restaurant operators against surge pricing caused by any future CO2 shortages.
Apex Gasgen has traditionally produced gas generators for the science industry to use in laboratories.
However, Thompson knew the beleaguered hospitality sector would have much tighter budgets than the scientific community.
“My design process went as economical as possible, because it’s hospitality,” he said. “The money a lab has for a five thousand machine, ten thousand machine, forty thousand machine, whatever it is, is not what hospitality has. So I thought I’d go down a different route with Draught Doctor and be cost competitive and went down the road of leasing it.”
Both systems are available on rolling monthly leases, starting at £60 a month for the line cleaning and £65 a month for the gas generator.
With the first cellar gas generator having been launched in early 2020, Thompson has spent the intervening years working with a handful of customers to refine and improve the line cleaning technology and is now at a stage where he is confident that the equipment is able to function for years without any issue.
“The whole premise of what we’re doing is these should be ‘set and forget’ sort of operations,” he said. “So we’ve been through a long process of making sure these things don’t really break. So when something does happen I can quite happily go.”
Thompson is already working with venues across the central belt and is now looking to grow his footprint in the trade in the months ahead.
More information is available at draught-doctor.com
