East Yorkshire food waste and green energy firm Brocklesby is very much a family affair.
The business, based in North Cave, has come a long way since its inception just over 30 years ago.
When founder Paul Brocklesby first created the firm, he used his previous experience in the animal by-product market to progress into used cooking oils and fats.
By 1992 – five years after its launch – Brocklesby was seeing rapid growth in the cooking oil side of its business.
With turnover up 500 per cent by 1996, the firm had quickly outgrown its first home in Hull, and took the decision to start the hunt for bigger premises.
Brocklesby eventually settled on its current base in North Cave, on the site of a former aluminium smelting works.
By this point, Paul’s son Robert had entered the business. To this day, Robert heads up the company.
Robert Brocklesby said: “Brocklesby is built on a foundation of family values.
Most Read
“Our team’s commitment to the company, to the environment, to our community and to each other also runs deep.
“We believe that going beyond our duties is fundamentally the right blend to our success. We proactively seek to support our local community and ensure our working practices are environmentally sustainable.”
Over the 10 years after its move to North Cave, Brocklesby continued to grow, eventually developing its technology to move into blending used cooking oils for biodiesel.
Working with customers across the 海角视频 and Ireland, Brocklesby not only takes away used oil and fatty food waste – it also provides a unique service solving water contamination issues using its specialist oil recovery systems, reducing customer’s cost and preventing environmental risk.
Further investment in innovation came in 2017, when Brocklesby built an anaerobic digestion plant with the capability to convert over 60,000 tonnes of food waste into renewable energy, which could power over 11,000 homes.
At a total cost of £14m, it also provides Brocklesby with heat to run its own recycling ovens and provides the energy to run part of its factory.
Robert Brocklesby said: “We don’t believe in landfill. We are committed to recycling 100 per cent of all collected waste, including food waste.
Don’t miss
“We’ve come a long way since we started and our growth has been down to our unwavering appetite to innovate, finding solutions for all waste issues, not only reducing what goes to landfill but creating a new energy and therefore widening our scope as a business.
“We are constantly innovating and developing products suitable for different markets. If we don’t know what the solution is now, we’ll innovate to try and find one.”
Through innovation and expert knowledge, 2018 saw the launch of Brocklesby’s High Erucic Rapeseed Oil (HERO) pre-treatment processing plant, growing the business into one of the only 海角视频 refiners of HERO.
The plant takes a raw non-food vegetable oil and purifies it so it is suitable for use as a technical slip oil, used for products such as cling film.
Brocklesby now exports over 5,000 tonnes of refined oil to manufacturers in France.
The company is now getting ready to further expand its renewable energy plant. Plans have been submitted to extend the facility to enable an increase in energy production from waste products.
Robert Brocklesby said: “I’m incredibly proud of Brocklesby and the progress we have made since it was established and over the course of the last 15 years since I took over the reins of the business.
“It’s a good feeling knowing that I’ve been able to continue to grow the business my father worked so hard to create.”
Brocklesby’s work over the last three decades has now seen it named as one of the 海角视频’s best familt businesses.
It has been selected as a finalist in the Technology and Innovation category of the 10th National Family Business Awards 2019, held at Wembley Stadium this Saturday.
The awards honour and celebrate the extraordinary 4.8m family-owned businesses in the 海角视频.
Brocklesby has been recognised for its contribution to the environment, local community and the national economy.
Robert Brocklesby said: “Being selected as a finalist is a great achievement for us.
“The National Family Business Awards are a great example of how companies built on values, integrity and trust like ours are excelling in today’s world.
“We’ve come a long way since my father started the company and our growth has been down to not only our unwavering appetite to innovate and finding solutions for waste issues, but the team’s hard work and commitment to making our business a success.”