Waste company celebrates 40th year with further investment and job creation

Russell Richardson, the confidential shredding, archiving and recycling specialist, is predicting a 20% growth in revenue to £3m in 2018, fuelled by tighter data protection regulations and major inward investment.

The Sheffield-based business, marking 40 years in business in 2018, says it is increasing its workforce to keep up with demand and has invested £195,000 in equipment ahead of new data protection regulations being introduced in May.

A state-of-the-art £165,000 mobile shredding truck equipped with an onboard device capable of shredding computer hard-drives – the first of its kind to be owned by a company sited in Sheffield City Region – is on order.

Also due to arrive is a £30,000 reel splitter, which will allow Russell Richardson to pursue contracts in the printing and packaging industry.

“We are making a significant investment back into the business as we hit our landmark year and are confident sales will soar as a result,” said MD Jonathan Richardson.

The business was set up by Jonathan’s father Russell, an industrial painting and cleaning contractor, who discovered there was money to be made in recycling when a client asked him to clear a factory ready for refurbishment.

The company turned over £2.5m last year and is now relied on by thousands of SMEs, law firms, the head office of the Formula One Grand Prix team, numerous police forces, motor giants and famous British fashion designers.

So far this year two more drivers have been recruited to bring its staff to 20 and three more jobs are predicted.

Storing confidential data is also a major arm of the business – and that is booming too. A secure archive storage site off the M1, which opened in 2015, is now at 75% capacity with boxes of confidential data from businesses including insolvency practises, lawyers and medical suppliers. New premises of at least double the size are now being sought.

Reflecting on the company’s 40 year milestone, Richardson said: “You have got to keep believing your business will succeed and do what it takes to make that happen. Hire great people and instil in them a sense of ownership in the business.

“My staff, who are like family to me, treat the business as if they own it. That allows me to be hands-off the day-to-day running and focus on driving us forward.”

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