The MBE has been awarded for Mrs Elston’s services to manufacturing. In addition to her work at the company, she is an ambassador for Real Life Entrepreneurs, a campaign launched by the Everywoman Network and the Federation of Small Businesses which aims to encourage women, the disabled and the young to start up new businesses.
Mrs Elston told letsrecycle.com: “I am extremely honoured, very proud and rather overwhelmed. The response to me receiving the MBE has been truly amazing.”
She added: “But, more importantly, the value of refurbishment and reuse of waste and recycling containers has been recognised in such a significant way, reflecting how much as a company we have reused and saved organisations over the past 17 years.”
Mrs Elston also thanked all those involved “at and with UKCM” for their support and encouragement, adding: “long may it continue!”
Repair and refurbishment
In past articles about the Northwich-based company, Mrs Elston has explained how her boyfriend and now husband, Julian, was working in Manchester replacing damaged waste bins. She tells how the couple agreed it would make more sense to repair them.
A government profile of the company has described how “UK Container Maintenance is now the biggest container refurbishment company in Britain. With its headquarters in Cheshire and a turnover of £6m, UKCM fixes over 75,000 waste and recycling containers a year for local authorities and waste and recycling firms.”
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Commenting on the origins of the business, Mrs Elston recalls: “When we first set up the company I was only 23 and it was from our bedroom and I had a baby on the way. In the early days of the business we lived in a caravan and I had no money for milk. We went to the banks with our business plan, that was researched at my local library and were laughed at by the bank manager ‘who would want to repair bins!’ We spent about £30,000 on our credit cards starting the business up.
“What kept me going was I knew the idea would work. Product knowledge and passion is key to success. It took us a while to get there but now I can’t imagine not having my own business. You have to work really hard but I can also now take my kids into the office and I am teaching them a few business skills too!”
In 2012, Mrs Elston was named Businesswoman of the Year. Commenting on why Mrs Elston won, Judy Groves, the awards chair, said: “Her business is innovative and she is focussed on generating employment in her region. To accomplish what she has done, and to have done it during one of the worst economic climates we have ever experienced, is truly inspirational.”
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