Renewables firm eyes up overseas acquisition opportunities

RECYCLING and green energy specialist the Leo Group is looking to make an overseas acquisition as part of its strategy to continue its expansion into international markets.

The West Yorkshire business has grown consistently over the past five years, reaching a turnover of £80m and a UK team of 470. It specialises in the collection and processing of animal by-products to convert them into valuable energy sources, meals, oils and pet food ingredients which it supplies to customers throughout the world.

“We are limited to what scale we can grow in the UK so we are looking at businesses overseas,” managing director, Danny Sawrij, said.

“We are interested in businesses in Eastern Europe and we want to use our technology outside of the UK and further expand our operations.”

Sawrij, who took over the running of the group, based at site at Swalesmoor, near Halifax, more than 25 years ago from his parents, said these particular Eastern European businesses are a lot smaller, but with similar operations.

Leo Group operates 10 sites across the UK including its Enviro Waste business in Halifax and Omega Proteins in Bradford.

The group processes 600,000 tonnes of raw material a year compared to 60,000 tonnes ten years ago.

“We used to dispatch oil by wagon, but we dispatch it by ship now,” Sawrij said.

The group works in a number of different sectors – including electricity, pet food (95% of the pet food on the shelf will contain some of the Leo Group’s products, it says), cosmetics, compost and fuel. It sells its products worldwide and has a client base filled with blue chip names.

The firm has big plans to break into the aviation market and believes that in the next few years, it will have a foothold in the pharmaceutical market, too.

“This will be big sector for us,” Sawrij said.

“We don’t want to rely on just one market. The world is a great place. We still don’t understand the amount of opportunities we have got.”

The Leo Group invests 98% of its retained profits back into the business and said it will continue to do this for at least the next five years.

Earlier this year, the Leo Group announced it was creating 50 new jobs as part of a £500,000 upgrade to its headquarters. Sawrij said this expansion is now 80% underway and includes a new office space and a new R&D lab, which has enabled the business to double its R&D team from two people to four.

“We want to learn more about what we have got and what it can make,” Sawrij said.

Sawrij said he believes the biggest opportunity for the business is further evolving the products it has got and is confident with the right management team in place, it will continue to grow and expand.

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