Blasting onto the Scene
 Edward
Dutton interviews Alex Doran about his sandblasting business
Nordic Media Blasting Oy.
With all the wooden houses in and around Oulu, English
expat Alex Doran may have hit upon something. Getting hold
of the latest machinery, he is in the process of launching
an innovative company in northern Finland. If you want old
paint removed from a wall quickly and safely he’ll blast it
off for you. And that’s just for starters . . .
End-to-End Service
Alex shows me a bag of the tiny grains of plastic which,
when fired under pressure, can strip paint from walls and
furniture. Alex also intends to develop this business so
that he can sandblast motor vehicles as well.
‘There aren’t many doing it,’ he says of the line of
business in the area. ‘There are no leading companies.
‘I offer an end-to-end service. If someone brings me a
motorbike I’ll blast it to remove the paint and the rust and
then send it to sprayer and it’ll be done through Nordic
Media Blasters Oy.’
‘Media’ is apparently the technical term for the grains that
are fired. The type that he shows me is known as ‘melemine.’
‘It was originally developed for military use . . . for
aircraft engines and frames.’ The grains are kept under
pressure in a tank and fired from a kind of hose so any
sandblaster needs eye goggles and breathing apparatus. The
grains come out at ‘40 – 100 psi (pounds per square inch).
According to Alex, sandblasting is still measured in
Britain’s old ‘imperial’ units.
‘It’s quite physical work!’ he smiles. But he’s confident
that it could be a very useful service, especially in
northern Finland.
A lot of Wooden Buildings
‘There are a lot of wooden buildings round here’ he
comments. ‘Also, the service will be environmentally
friendly. All of the stuff that I use can be recycled and
it’s clean and efficient . . . there’s no risk to the
environment through chemicals.
But though Alex has been on many Finnish courses he still
doesn’t feel too confident with the language and so he adds.
‘I’m looking to employ a Finnish speaking person to help me
with sales and marketing.’
Originally from Hampshire in southern England, Alex has been
in Oulu for ten years now. He was first brought here through
work with a leading telecommunications company and is now
certain that he’ll stay.
‘It’s a safe place . . . . with safe people. There’s a kind
of honesty culture here. If Finns get an invoice then they
pay it on time!’
Alex has also been very pleased with the help he’s received
setting up a business in Oulu.
‘The service was free and the Oulu Business centre helped me
with application forms, registration, banking etc.’ Overall,
Alex emphasises that his experiences of conducting business
on Oulu have been ‘pretty positive.’
Minus Forty
However, in his decade here the Oulu weather has been
something that Alex has found difficult to adjust to.
‘When I first got here it was September. It’s summer in the
UK but it was already rainy and cold here,’ he remembers.
‘Then all the snow came!’
During Alex’s first winter here it actually got down to
minus 40. ‘The only way you could go out was covering
everything up!’ he laughed. A friend of his left his nose
exposed and almost got frost bite.’
Alex has also found that Finns seem to socialise differently
from people in England. ‘It takes a long time to build up a
personal relationship and then when they invite you round
for coffee you know you’ve made a friend!’ he tells me.
His first Finnish coffee experience was certainly an
eye-opener. ‘It was a huge spread . . . cakes and biscuits
and . . . I thought “I better drink my coffee quickly
because she’s obviously got a party planned when I leave!”
But it was all for me!’
And, like most expats, he’s had difficulty learning the
Finnish language. ‘How do I say this without sounding like
an idiot!’ he jokes. ‘Erm . . . I’ve had quite a few lessons
and I haven’t managed to capture it!’
Culture Shock
Alex is sure that he’s been through ‘Culture Shock’ in
Oulu which involves thinking the new culture is wonderful,
hating it and romanticising your own and finally reaching a
happy medium. But there are still little things about
England that he misses.
‘I miss family and friends,’ he reminisces, ‘but there’s a
whole new social life over here!’ ‘
Then thinking about it, Alex realises what he really misses.
‘I miss the opening hours of shops!’ he laughs. ‘In England
all supermarkets are open on Sundays and there’s a much
wider range of products. Here shops open on Sundays in
summer – when you want to be outdoors – but close in the
winter . . . when you might want to be indoors doing
shopping!’
Motorbikes and Graffiti
But, after ten years, Alex is settled in and is looking
to the future of Nordic Media Blasters Oy. In addition to
employing a Finnish-speaker for sales and marketing, he
intends to branch out from wood to motorbikes and, hopefully,
cars. ‘That’ll be a big jump though’ he adds.
He also hopes eventually to employ a full time sandblaster.
This employee, ‘will have to be able to speak English
because they’ll have to be able to communicate with me!’
There would also be proper training because sandblasting
equipment is pretty powerful.
However, at the moment Alex’s Finnish girlfriend is helping
him with the language for his business. And he’s
increasingly convinced that she may well know English even
better than he does. |
