The company, which is one of the UK's largest textile recyclers, said that the deal – which includes the 500 textile banks managed by ETR, its equipment, lorries and the 12 staff involved in the collection service all moving over to JMP Wilcox – would help to increase the geographical spread of its collections and increase the speed it can service banks in.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com today (April 16) about the acquisition, which was completed earlier this month, JMP Wilcox's director Martin Wilcox explained that the deal had been prompted by ETR wanting to move away from the commercial collection side of its operations.
“It was a very amicable agreement, they felt they wanted to step out of the commercial side of the sector,” he said, adding that “we'd already worked with them in the past”.
Bilston-based JMP Wilcox claims the transition for ETR's customers, which include local authorities, waste management firms and charities has been “seamless”, thanks to its transport management team and collection staff integrating with Wilcox's existing operations.
“This has really meant that customers have been able to carry on working without any disruption, with the same trucks, drivers, equipment and service level agreements,” Mr Wilcox said.
Collections
Mr Wilcox explained that ETR's collections from textile banks complemented JMP Wilcox's existing services and would allow it to access the “pockets” in England and Wales that its nationwide service did not currently include.
“They did have contracts in areas we cross through,” he said. “If you run up to North Yorkshire, you go through local authorities on the way up there – it's a logistical benefit.”
He added: ” We'll be running more trucks so our turn-around will be quicker, we can service banks within 24 hours of receiving a notification about them.”
Mr Wilcox also claimed that acquiring ETR's already-established business represented a “cost-effective” way for JMP Wilcox to expand, and in particular highlighted the company's ” very professionally run and high end service”.
“They had a lot of service systems in place that we were envious of,” he said.
The service's 12 staff will join JMP Wilcox's existing workforce of 325, which is based at four depots, while its six lorries will augment the company's current fleet of 45 collection vehicles.
Subscribe for free