Fuelled by family and innovation

SPYRIDES GROUP I PROFILE

The family-owned Spyrides Group is a dominant player in the petrol station market, designing, engineering, supplying and maintaining forecourt technology and infrastructure across the world. With the founder’s sons now at the helm, the company has continued its reputation for innovation and world-class, comprehensive service provision. But as the world increasingly moves away from fossil fuels, what does the company’s future look like? Commercial Director Spyros Sotiropoulos revealed the firm’s exciting plans to Richard Hagan.

Spyrides SA, based in Greece, was originally founded in 1970 with the intention of supplying equipment to the petrol station industry, including facilities and even the gas stations themselves.

Later on, from the early 1990s, it began to specialise in the manufacture of fuel pumps for gas stations and now it is a world leader in that space. It is also the only company in the Balkans with the international certifications it holds, including honours from major European and American companies.

The family business to which Spyrides SA belongs, was established in 1933 by Dimitrios Spyridis: his two sons would later join and, with 100% ownership under their belts eventually they, in turn, would be joined by their children, making for a truly familyowned and run business.

The family are all placed in key managerial positions, ensuring proper day-to-day running of the company.

Long-term planning pays off

Thanks to its decades of operation and specialisation in the space, Spyrides SA has developed a comprehensive range of products and services that make it a truly one-stop shop for its customers.

“Our basic philosophy (and also our competitive advantage), is in our ability to provide a full range of solutions to our customers,” said Commercial Director Spyros Sotiropoulos. “We handle the construction, we sell the equipment, and then we provide maintenance and service for all of it.

“We are also uniquely able to offer custom fuel dispensers to our customers according to their specific needs or requirements, which is something that our competitors do not provide.”

That level of flexibility is important in a market in which the products offered by its competitors are, he revealed, fundamentally the same. Customisations offered by Spyrides SA can therefore include a variety of bespoke components according to the customer’s requirements, for example, ultra high-flow dispensers, dispensers with a unique nozzle, and custom product configurations.

The company’s product and service catalogue includes the production of fuel pumps and dispensers, the design and development of automation systems for petrol stations (such as forecourt control systems, automatic tank gauging systems and payment terminals), construction of retail or commercial petrol stations in general, as well as construction of mobile petrol stations for industries.

SPYRIDES GROUP I PROFILE

In addition, the company offers everything in-between; from lights to signage and small accessories of every description. And once all of those products are in place, Spyrides offers a full range of maintenance services for all of the above.

This vast product offering is the result of an intentional, longterm strategy and ongoing development efforts to ensure that it is able to meet all of its customers’ needs, explained Mr Sotiropoulos. “Through continuous market research and feedback from our clients, we have been able to design and manufacture new products that fully meet their changing needs and expectations.”

Spyrides SA has an equally impressive logistics operation supporting its sales efforts. Each of its five branches in Greece has its own warehouse, all of which are linked by its ERP system. In total, the company maintains 3,500 sqm of warehousing space. Every warehouse is equipped with forklifts, electric pallet stackers, and hand pallet trucks to ensure the speedy and efficient movement of goods in and out of storage.

Facilities fuelling productivity

Spyrides SA’s operations are centred within Greece. It has administrative offices in Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as customer service branches in Patras, Larissa and Heraklion. Altogether, the firm boasts 215 employees working across either administrative or technical roles.

Its production facility is located in Athens. Covering a jawdropping 12,000 sqm, the factory is equipped with modern machinery and software for the manufacture of fuel pumps and dispensers. These include bending machines, drilling machines, punches and more.

Altogether, over 30 staff members are permanently employed on its production floor, but during peak periods, they are typically temporarily supplemented by an additional five to eight staff drawn from other departments.

To ensure its ability to meet with and regularly service its substantial customer base, the company maintains a fleet of 14 maintenance trucks and a variety of 11 other vehicles for general commercial needs.

Filling up on big-ticket projects

Mr Sotiropoulos drew attention to two recent projects completed by Spyrides that were particular highlights for the firm.

The first was its supply of mobile diesel filling stations for the Lafarge Group, and the second was the construction of a petrol station at the largest marina in Greece, Asteras Vouliagmeni.

“For both projects, a lengthy tender process had been issued which evaluated not only costs but also technical efficiencies and delivery lead times of the candidate contractors,” he explained. “Our competitive advantage (which delivered success in those tenders), is our ability to provide complete solutions of products and services both for competitive prices, in a technically efficient manner, and within fast delivery times.”

The value of both projects ranged from €200,000 to €400,000 and involved compliance with strict environmental standards and challenging site conditions

Electrifying plans for the future

As a result of climate change, the world is hurriedly trying to wean itself off of fossil fuels, and one of the industries that will see the biggest shift the fastest is the passenger vehicle category. Here, electric vehicles (EVs) are widely considered to be the most viable solution, and it has created a need everywhere for EV charging points.

Spyros Sotiropoulos Commercial Director

Mr Sotiropoulos made it clear that the company is is actively investing in the EV movement.

“We’re very aware of the market’s increasing interest in, and sales of, EVs,” he revealed. “In line with our strategy always to provide a complete range of solutions to our customers, we recently created a new company called Neotec Energy through which we have already signed cooperation agreements with leading international manufacturers.

“Through Neotec Energy, we will provide a full range of electric vehicle chargers to the Greek market. These will be suitable not only for petrol stations, but also for industries, shopping malls, hotels, and any type of business that wants to increase its customer base by offering additional benefits or value through the provision of EV charging points.”

Though Neotec Energy is currently focused on operations within Greece, the company has plans to expand its activities internationally soon, beginning with the Balkans and countries in North Africa.

Dispensing success through fuel pumps

Spyrides’ most popular and successful product is its fuel dispensers. Apart from the Greek market, the company has agreements with major national oil companies, via which it exports its dispensers to 43 countries worldwide, including Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Kenya, Egypt and beyond.

Outside of its fuel dispenser sales, the company has experienced steady growth in its petrol station automation products (such as its forecourt control system, its fleet management and payment terminals, and automatic tank gauging systems), and in its complete petrol station construction activities, particularly of flagship petrol stations for major oil companies in Greece.

Firing on all cylinders

In 2021, the company grew its export roster by four countries, adding Libya, Norway, Ghana and the Czech Republic and in 2022, it expects to add another four, including Sweden, Austria, Uganda and Cameroon.

Thanks to all of the above efforts, Spyrides SA enjoyed strong sales growth in 2021 versus 2020. “This has once again confirmed the long-term trust relationship that we’ve built with our customers,” Mr Sotiropoulos remarked.

Of course, future growth plans will now also heavily feature the company’s new and exciting EV charging infrastructure and related products.

In closing, Mr Sotiropoulos expressed his optimism for the company’s future. “The next steps for our group are all related to expansion into new market segments and more countries, giving more petrol station professionals an opportunity to work with our high-quality fuel dispensers and our forecourt control system. Despite the various ongoing geopolitical challenges, I believe that in every crisis there are hidden opportunities and that we are called to take advantage of them.” n