The textile recycling firm, described as a “backbone of the trade”, has informed creditors to await the appointment of an administrator.
The chosen administrator is expected to be Poppleton & Appleby of Birmingham, however the insolvency firm has yet to be appointed by the company’s bank. It is understood an estimated 50-60 jobs could be affected by a closure.
An automated message left by the company today states: “Due to unforeseen circumstances the company has ceased to trade. If you are a creditor you will be contacted in due course by the appointed administrator.”
Based in Sutton Coldfield, BCR Global is headed by Maxine Sault as well as Maureen Sault and Charlotte Emma King. The firm is known to hold textile collection contracts with a number of local authorities and works with charities to promote awareness at its textile banks.
Charity
The firm had recently partnered with Against Breast Cancer to promote bra recycling, and sited its first textile bank in West Bromwich last month to raise donations for the charity.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com today, a spokesman for the charity said that, to avoid overflowing at the bring bank sites, it had contacted its database to inform them the collections had ceased.
He said: “We understand that these things happen. We have communicated and worked with BCR to ensure that the final funds make their way to us and that the recent collection of recycled bras make their way to Africa.”
He added: “We are currently in the process of looking for other partners. We have spoken to a few people and also had a couple of companies approach us. Recycling bras is only one strand of what we do, we also recycle clothes, shoes, mobiles, so we have some other ideas of who would be right for the job. We will be choosing a new contractor in the upcoming weeks.”
‘Historic’
Martin Wilcox, director of West Midlands-based textile recycling firm JMP Wilcox, called nearby BCR a ‘historic’ name in the sector which had been an early pioneer of the textile bank system. He added that as of today “the factory is closed and the vehicles are parked”.
He said: “BCR were effectively the instigators of the textile bank collection system. They are the backbone of the trade. It’s the poor trading we are all facing, we are having difficulty selling material overseas.
“There’s going to be a large amount of material on the market and that will show in the price. This is the beginning of the end for outreach collection areas where the distance to go is great and the yield is low.”
Pressure
Alan Wheeler, director of the Textile Recycling Association, said he had heard of the situation at BCR Global. He added: “What I would say is that clearly in these difficult times, local authorities and charities should expect prices to decline further and textile recycling businesses will continue to remain under pressure.”
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