Member Article

Warwickshire waste management and recycling business planning for more growth

A waste management and recycling company in Warwickshire is planning for further growth after a 70 per cent increase in its turnover in the last four years.

Clews Recycling, which was established in 1999, started life operating Household Waste Recycling Centres for local authorities but has expanded since 2007 and now focus’ on its industrial and commercial customers.

The business runs a fleet of ten HGV trucks and a Waste transfer station on Hunters Lane, Rugby, that handles 25,000 tonnes of waste each year. The waste is sorted into recyclables with value such as metal, cardboard, polythene or into those wastes that have a lower cost of final disposal such as soil, wood and hardcore.

Clews Recycling has received support from the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub since 2015 – a year after the Growth Hub was launched – receiving grants to buy machinery, recruitment and training.

Since 2019, the business has grown its turnover to nearly £5 million and increased its workforce to 34 members of staff and plans are in the pipeline for a new baler to produce bale refuse derived fuel, fit solar panels on the roof to reduce its energy costs and a shredder for electrical equipment and computer hard-drives.

Richard Clews, Managing Director at Clews Recycling, said the support of the Growth Hub over the last eight years had played a major part in its growth.

“The Growth Hub is essential for businesses trying to grow because it can be difficult to raise finance for the plant and equipment in our sector and having the Growth Hub’s support can make all the difference in securing that finance,” he said.

“In 2015, the Growth Hub helped us design and purchase a specialist hopper for lightweight waste, contribute towards mobile plant and assist with the enabling works to pull all the strands together to help us reach recycling rates of between 85 to 88 per cent.

“Having the grants enabled us to buy the plant and machinery with as limited detrimental effect on cash flow as possible and when you are running a business, it is all about cash flow.

“The financial benefits through the grants we have received over the last eight years have made a difference in contributing towards buying capital equipment but it is also great to have someone on your side to listen, make valuable contributions and to want you to be successful – that’s worth its weight in gold.

“We are currently training five of our staff from the Ukraine to improve their English so that they can undergo forklift truck training and another member of staff is studying for an NVQ level 4 in Waste Management.

“We have plans to continue to grow the business and would like to create space to fit a baler at the end of the picking line so that we can bale and wrap Refuse Derived Fuel. In April 2023 we expanded to take over an adjacent industrial unit next door and have exciting plans to use this for WEEE destruction and plant repairs. I am sure all industries are the same, you have to continually evolve, try new things and not be scared to stop old business activities if they do not work, the Growth Hub has given us the confidence to do that.’’

Adam Plumb, Account Manager at Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub, said the Growth Hub was perfectly placed to provide support to businesses of all sizes and in all sectors throughout Coventry and Warwickshire.

He said: “I have worked with Clews Recycling for the last three years with a number of interventions to help with machinery and equipment to recycle electrical goods which is on the increase as people upgrade their televisions, computers or cookers and specialist equipment is needed to recycle these items safely.

“As businesses expand, there can sometimes be barriers to grow which is why the Growth Hub is here to provide advice and support to help every step of the way.”

Craig Humphrey, CEO of the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub, added that they were contacted by firms for a number of reasons.

He said: “Clews Recycling is operating within a sector that is heavily legislated and Government and European directives that apply to the waste sector can sometimes be overbearing.

“It is gratifying to come back to a company that we have helped over multiple years to allow them to retain a competitive edge within a competitive sector.

“With the help we have given through grants, skills and training, it has led to the company increasing its turnover and increasing jobs which has led to improved productivity and that for me, as the CEO of a business support organisation, is fantastic to see.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .