Founded by Michael Bolton in 1969, Bolton Bros has established itself as one of the main players in the East of England in paper and plastics recycling.
Today much of the day-to-day work is coordinated by the founder's sons and daughter including sales and commercial director Reuben Bolton, Michael Bolton Jnr as transport & production director and Jodi Bolton-Smith as personnel & accounts director. 
Michael Bolton Snr is chairman of the business and still gets involved in major projects and the day-to-day running of the business. This has included the recent successful acquisition of a nine-acre site in Great Blakenham, near Ipswich, that will become the operations and head office for the business which currently operates partly at this site and at smaller locations nearby.
The firm developed in the metals recycling and rags sector under earlier names which included the Eastern Waste Paper Company and the Eastern Metal Company.
It was in the 1980s that the business switched to handling waste paper & cardboard as the main materials explains Reuben Bolton. “We served the UK market paper mills but then the big change in the 1990s came with the development of export markets for cardboard which gave us fresh opportunities. We bought a cheap loading ramp for paper to fill sea containers and reduced our involvement in scrap metal. We then grew very fast from just a few people in the business to now having a staff of 30 and processing over 1,000 tonnes a week.”
Despite focusing on paper in the 1990s, Reuben Bolton says that there is a definite trend now for customers to want a service for all their waste and recycling. “We find we have to provide a one stop shop for paper, plastic, card, wood and general waste. If you want to retain a job, you can't just specialise in doing cardboard recycling anymore.”
Price is important to securing work, whoever the customer is, he says. “But, the level of service is also important and management of that is essential. Although we are only a small business in waste management terms, we know that we have to provide a decent level of service at a decent price. Because of the recession price has become more important but we are still focused on service and trying to work with the customer.
“We are also finding customers are looking for ways to save money on their general waste so they want more recycling. When their businesses are more profitable, they will turn more of a blind eye to their waste but they are now more willing to listen to our ideas.”
Reuben Bolton says that quality of material is important and that the company does not only serve the export market – it is also a firm believer in supplying UK mills. “We understand that it is important to provide good quality material and believe we have a reputation for that, in the UK and in our export markets. We do look after the UK as well as every outlet is important to us. This should be the same for every merchant – we need every outlet at the end of the day for our end products.”
And, he is cautious about becoming too dependent on export markets, which, he believes, could become oversupplied.
Bolton Bros as a business has always been a strong supporter of trade associations and Reuben Bolton was a past president of the Independent Waste Paper Processors Association. The company, and especially Reuben Bolton, has been a supporter of the association's rebranding as the Recycling Association. Michael Bolton Senior is chairman of IWPP Ltd, the trading arm of the Recycling Association.
While a trade association provides valuable recognition and a service for the sector, Reuben Bolton says that it is also important “in providing a good networking platform and can also help us to arrange national contracts. For firms such as ours who don't have a presence outside of our area, the Association can help us if we need to find a merchant to service another branch of one of our local businesses.”
Now, the business is looking to the future having had a series of celebrations for the 40 years during 2009. With trucks sporting logos to mark the anniversary, the company, which has ISO 9001 accreditation and a range of other approvals, is hoping that businesses in its area come out of the recession with strength and good volumes of material for recycling.
Reuben Bolton says: “With our knowledge of Eastern England we are well-placed to expand in the future and we are keen to ensure we keep up high standards of service.”
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