The Sevenoaks-based municipal services specialists have bought the 8 million turnover commercial waste firm Waste Services (UK) Ltd, which has its headquarters in Southampton.
 The Waste Services name will remain in use, as Verdant's commercial waste division |
The newly-acquired firm operates in the commercial, marine and hazardous waste arenas with 65 staff and 45 vehicles with two depots in Portsmouth and Bournemouth as well as its main Southampton site.
Waste Services runs a pay-by-weight commercial waste collection service with many of its collection vehicles fitted with onboard weighing systems.
Key contracts held by Waste Services include one for the Portsmouth naval dockyards and two for shopping centre construction projects in Leicester and Bristol.
Verdant believes the acquisition of Waste Services will help it to achieve a 50 million turnover within 18 months.
Development
Simon Miles, Verdant's managing director, said: “This strategic acquisition, Verdant's first, diversifies our core waste and recycling service for municipal sector customers into the commercial waste arena for the first time.
“We recently began a commercial recycling service in West Sussex, and the Waste Services purchase will enable faster development of this commercial recycling service which we see growing strongly in the next few years as the result of environmental regulation,” Mr Miles explained.
The previous owners of Waste Services, Chris and Sue Nutbrown, are to retire after a short handover period, but the rest of the company's existing management team will remain with the company, Verdant said.
Mr Nutbrown said: “We believe that Verdant will be able to unlock opportunities not currently available to the business through its existing network of municipal contracts and highly experienced management team. Our staff look forward to being part of Verdant and the development of the company's services.”
Jobs
Verdant development director Roger Edwards will become managing director of Waste Services, which will retain its trading name as it becomes Verdant's commercial waste division.
Verdant said it has “no plans for cutting staff or resources” and that it was “confident that further staff will be recruited as the business expands”.
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Mr Miles said: “Since being established in 2001 with the Ecovert buyout, Verdant's growth record shows there is plenty of opportunity for smaller companies in the UK's waste and recycling sector.
“We see significant opportunity to transplant our municipal recycling expertise into the commercial sector where regulatory and reputation pressures are likely to require much more recycling and waste reduction,” Mr Miles added.
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