The company, which has an estimated annual turnover of £10 million, provides commercial waste and recycling collections in the North East – operating from two recycling facilities in Hartlepool and a waste transfer station in Middlesbrough.
J&B has also held local authority contracts, signing a deal to run 76 recycling bring banks across Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees in 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story).
The funding is the first instance of the Business Growth Fund investing in the Teesside area.
Launched in 2011, the Leeds-based initiative is backed by five of the UK’s main banking groups and aims to provide funding support for Britain’s growing businesses. The Business Growth Fund will invest between £2 million and £10 million in a firm in return for a minority equity stake and a seat on the board for one of its directors.
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A team at Cavu Corporate Finance, led by director Shawn Bone and Thomas Brunsnes advised J&B on the deal. Commenting on the decision, Mr Bone said that the Business Growth Fund’s ‘long-term view’ had meant it was best placed to provide investment.
Expansion
J&B will use the funding to help expand the size of its operations at the Hartlepool and Middlesbrough sites, as well as to finance an additional waste transfer station in Middlesbrough for treating commercial waste.
Following the investment, J&B’s current non-executive director Ross Smith will take on the role of non-executive chairman. Mr Smith was formerly chief executive of 3i backed MDC Technology and chairman of CSL Dualcom.
Vikki Jackson-Smith, managing director of J&B Recycling, said: “I am delighted J&B has secured a significant investment from BGF to help execute our very exciting growth plans. We believe BGF will be the ideal partner for us – they take a long term view and are experienced investors in family businesses.
“J&B has always viewed itself as an innovator within the industry, from our early days of recycling glass bottles to the development of our state-of-the-art materials recycling facility. This investment will further enhance our reputation as we look to collect, recover and recycle more and more waste to put to new uses.”
‘Reputable’
Richard Taylor, investment director at Business Growth Fund, added: “J&B has developed from a small business into a reputable, established ethical recycling and waste management company, with an extremely strong family management team. Vikki is an excellent role model for aspiring female entrepreneurs, as she has built a business with longevity and the prospects for excellent future growth.
“We are also pleased to extend our portfolio into Teesside, increasing our investment momentum in the North East where we are seeing increasing activity.”
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