Growing a Hygiene Manufacturer from £1m - £8m in 3 years /w Ali Sharp

In Episode 2 of Dish It Dirty Podcast, David Revell sits down with Ali Sharp — one of the cleaning & hygiene industry’s most impressive emerging commercial leaders.Ali’s journey is anything but conventional.Starting out in agricultural commodities trading during the 2008 financial crisis, he developed a deep understanding of markets, pricing, supply chains and commercial decision-making before moving into the cleaning & hygiene sector with Kimberly-Clark Professional and later WEPA Professional.During his time at WEPA, Ali helped grow the UK & Ireland business from roughly £1M to £8M in just 3 years, helping build distribution from scratch during one of the most volatile periods in modern business history:COVIDBrexit disruptionEnergy crisesSupply chain chaosInflation & global instabilityIn this episode, we discuss:How WEPA built national distribution from the ground upWhat separates average salespeople from elite performersLeadership, autonomy & accountabilityThe importance of processes, data & attention to detailAI and how it’s changing commercial decision-makingWhy transferable skills matter more than industry experienceThe changing state of the cleaning & hygiene marketIf you work in cleaning, hygiene, catering, facilities management, packaging or B2B sales — this episode is packed with practical insights.Chapters / Timestamps00:00 – Introduction & Ali Sharp’s background02:00 – Agricultural commodities & trading04:30 – Understanding markets & supply chains07:15 – Entering the cleaning & hygiene industry08:15 – Joining WEPA during COVID10:30 – Growing WEPA from £1M to £8M12:00 – Building logistics & distribution14:00 – Marketing & brand awareness18:30 – Kaizen & continuous improvement22:30 – Building distribution partnerships28:45 – The ‘3 P’s’ framework35:30 – AI, data & sales45:00 – Leadership & autonomy52:00 – Building culture & teams1:00:00 – The state of the hygiene market1:05:00 – Commodity selling vs innovation1:08:00 – Final thoughts & lessons