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THE MILES BROTHERS RIDE AGAIN - 31 July 2008
Former Verdant owners buy Glazewing metal recycling business
West Dereham, Norfolk, 31 July 2008 – Jon and Simon Miles, the Kent-based entrepreneur brothers who last year sold municipal services company Verdant Group to Greenstar, are returning to the UK waste industry with an acquisition that will drive a ‘dominant new presence’ across the South East.
Using their solid credentials for successfully ‘buying-and-building’ in the recycling, treatment and waste management sector, they have today bought, via their new acquisition vehicle Valens Resources Group Plc, the entire share capital of East England-based Glazewing Ltd, one of the region’s leading metals recyclers.
They plan to build the company in the next few years into a ‘significant’ independent metal recycling and ancillary services provider stretching east from the Wash to Southampton.
Around three-quarters of Glazewing’s revenue comes from scrap metal recycling, most of which is exported. Remaining revenue is earned by materials processing and disposal services provided mainly for commercial customers in the region.
These include an approved authorised treatment facility (AATF), processing waste electrical equipment (WEEE) and end-of-life vehicle (ELV) de-pollution, as well as hazardous waste management, hiring out skips and roll on-roll off containers, and some cardboard and plastics baling.
Glazewing founder and main shareholder Malcolm Grief is retiring, while other family members are staying with the business to further its expansion and development. All jobs at Glazewing are being retained.
Building market presence
According to Jon Miles, Glazewing’s strong market reputation has been earned through its quality and service focus. He said: “We aim to build further on that reputation as we believe metal recycling has a bright future for go-ahead businesses that have the scale and operational efficiency to capitalise on European and global demand.”
He added: “I see similarities between the metal recycling sector today and the waste management industry in the 1980s. The latter had to evolve rapidly from being insular and fragmented to being customer and service-led, and willing to move with the times. The same dynamics are now infiltrating the metals recycling sector, which gives Simon and I a great business-building opportunity.
“We will use our experience to drive positive change at Glazewing. We want to expand its metal recycling business, and introduce new services and revenue lines, so that it becomes a dominant new presence across the South East. It’s all about leveraging new efficiencies, and different and safer ways of working, so that we can carve out a successful niche in a big market sector.”
Glazewing’s main 6 acre site and licensed transfer station at West Dereham, near Kings Lynn, adjoins further sites used for its logistics and container operations, with a further vehicle park site close by. The company operates a quayside export facility 15 miles away at Wisbech, in Cambridgeshire, where ships load metal recyclate for transport to European markets and beyond.
Established in 1986, Glazewing operates a fleet of 23 modern trucks and 24 trailers, and has invested substantially in processing plant as well as IT and management information systems.
Jon and Simon Miles were advised on the acquisition by a KPMG Corporate Finance team led by Mark Whelan and by Jonathan Grant at lawyers DMH Stallard.
The Glazewing shareholders were advised by a TCV Corporate Finance team led by Christian Long and by James Hunter at Mills & Reeve solicitors.
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Note to editors:
The Miles brothers’ track record in successfully buying and building businesses in the waste sector include:
• Buying and developing the Polkacrest healthcare waste management company prior to selling it to London Waste in 1998
• Investing seed capital in Elite Environmental Ltd and assisting with its growth before being acquired by PHS Allclear
• Buying the Ecovert waste business in 2002 when it had nine municipal contracts, £9 million turnover, 250 staff and a failing reputation. They transformed the business into Verdant Group Plc which, when they sold it to Greenstar UK in November 2007, had over 20 local authority recycling, refuse and cleansing contracts, 1,200 staff and an annual turnover of £50 million, making it one of the top five privately-owned waste businesses
• Jon Miles is an engineer and Simon Miles a chartered accountant.
For further information, contact Blair Drummond, Valens Resources’ PR consultant.
Tel: +44 (0) 7798 686 217; email: blair.drummond@btopenworld.com
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