Welsh metals recycler hails impact of new facility

Metals recycling company Bayliss Recovery has revealed that its income is set to double as a result of opening a second facility in South Wales at a cost of £1.25 million three months ago, and said it now has plans to expand further.

The company opened a new facility in Bridgend earlier this year focused on dealing with loose metals such as heavy iron and copper, to add to its existing operations at nearby Ogmore Vale where it handles between 300 and 400 end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) a week.

And, speaking to letsrecycle.com yesterday (August 23), Bayliss Recovery's managing director, Howard Bayliss, said that, as a result of the expansion the company was now “definitely” on track to double its income, from £3-4 million a year to £8 million.

Mr Bayliss said the expansion came after the firm had “outgrown” its original site, explaining: “We'd been trading well for some time which gave us the confidence to consider opening a second unit. The new site at Bridgend Industrial Estate is enabling us to expand our customer base, which is an important part of realising our growth ambitions.”

He added that the new site had been developed with the aim of exploiting the “huge gap” between large metals recycling companies such as Sims, EMR and Dunn's and people who pick up scrap in small volumes, with the set up at Bayliss' making it easier for them to deal with smaller amounts quickly.

The company's original site handles abandoned vehicles supplied by a number of South Wales councils, as well “the majority” of South Wales Police's abandoned vehicles and it also buys in ELVs from the public, while scrap for the new site is supplied by local factories.

As well as a shear to cut up scrap, the Bridgend site is also home to a container loader, which allows Bayliss to box up materials such as copper to markets including China and India, while the company's operations also involve it selling around 2,500 tonnes a month of steel to Cardiff-based steel manufacturer Celsa.

NatWest

Bayliss' expansion was enabled by a £1.1 million funding packaging from NatWest, which included support from its asset finance arm, Lombard, to meet equipment and vehicles costs.

NatWest's relationship director, Andrew Jones, highlighted the close working relationship he had developed with Bayliss to understand the firm's business strategy and aims, helping NatWest to create a range of “tailored” funding solutions.

“Expanding to a second base could be viewed as a bold step but with their knowledge of the sector, I'm sure the Bayliss team will make the Bridgend site as successful as the first,” he added.

Further expansion

Mr Bayliss also revealed that, with the success of the new second site, Bayliss was now looking at further expansion in the shape of potentially opening its first site outside the Bridgend area, instead located towards the bottom of the Rhonda Valley and near to Cardiff.