Cory’s chief executive, Dougie Sutherland, said the event provided an opportunity to celebrate the company’s rich history, and also look forward as Cory helps “the important juncture as the UK addresses different challenges, including the need to rapidly decarbonise the economy”.
The company was incorporated as William Cory & Son in 1896 as a coal transportation business on the Thames and played a significant role in both World Wars.
In the 1980s, Cory sold its coal and oil distribution business and created Cory Waste Management. This saw the launch of the containerised waste transportation business which still exists today.
It signed a long-term contract with the Western Riverside Waste Authority in 2002, which included the development of an 84,000 tonnes-per-annum Materials Recycling Facility in Wandsworth, and opened the Riverside energy from waste facility in 2012.
In 2017, Cory – then named Cory Riverside Energy – completed its major restructure and refinance, having sold its collections, waste brokerage and landfill businesses.
Last year, it secured planning permission to develop the Riverside Energy Park and in 2021, the company was renamed Cory, 125 years after William Cory & Son was incorporated.
“I am immensely proud to work for a company with such a rich heritage in service”
- Dougie Sutherland, Cory’s chief executive
‘Proud’
Speaking at the Tower Bridge event, Dougie Sutherland, Cory’s chief executive, said: “I am immensely proud to work for a company with such a rich heritage in service of our country and communities.
“While Cory often operates in the background, keeping our communities clean and safe, we are also very visibly in the foreground – our river fleet has been a familiar sight on the Thames for 125 years since the company’s incorporation in 1896.
“This long history on the river has seen us evolve with the times, moving coal, then oil, then aggregate, and finally waste – and fighting in two World Wars during that period.
“We are continuing to evolve at this important juncture as the UK addresses different challenges, including the need to rapidly decarbonise the economy. I am privileged to help steer Cory through this period and am optimistic about what lies ahead, both in the next few years and when Cory celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2046.”
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