UK Metals Recycling Firm Purchased by Former Verdant Owners

The former owners of Verdant Group –Jon and Simon Miles – have acquired Glazewing Ltd., a large metals recycling firm in East England. The two brothers sold Verdant to Ireland-based Greenstar last year.

The Miles’ acquired Glazewing through its recently started acquisition company called Valens Resources Group Plc. Roughly 75 percent of Glazewing’s revenue is derived from scrap metal recycling, most of which is exported. The remaining revenue comes from materials processing and disposal services provided mainly for commercial customers in the region, including an approved authorized treatment facility processing waste electrical equipment and end-of-life vehicle de-pollution, as well as hazardous waste management, hiring out skips and roll on-roll off containers, and some cardboard and plastics baling.

According to Jon Miles, Glazewing’s strong market reputation has been earned through its quality and service focus. "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 capitalize on European and global demand."

"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," Miles continued.

"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 six acre site and licensed transfer station adjoins further sites used for its logistics and container operations, with a further vehicle park site close by. The company operates a nearby export facility where scrap metal is loaded for shipments.

Established in 1986, Glazewing operates a fleet of 23 trucks and 24 trailers, and has made substantial investment in processing plant, as well as IT and management information systems.