Two sisters behind an East Midlands waste management business say they have had the busiest year in their 21 year history.
Denise and Elaine James set up Total Waste Control back in 2001, and provide services ranging from dealing with hazardous waste to packaging waste, tank cleaning and pressure jet cleaning.
During the pandemic the business, which is based at Clay Cross, north Derbyshire, was affected like a lot of companies but despite that managed to achieve its best-ever turnover of almost 拢1 million last year.
Denise and Elaine were able to carry on working throughout lockdown because they were classed as key workers but had to furlough their staff.
Thanks to a few long-standing, loyal customers, enough work came through to keep the business moving, and last July, their team was able to get back to work.
Elaine said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to be celebrating our 21st business anniversary this year.
鈥淟ockdown curtailed our celebrations somewhat, but we managed to weather it well, and things are starting to get back to normal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 allowed us to take stock of where we are, reflect on the journey we鈥檝e been on and the things we鈥檝e achieved over the past 21 years.鈥
Denise said: 鈥淲e hope that we all pull through this current pandemic crisis, stronger and more robust than ever to see us through the coming years, but we can鈥檛 be complacent.
鈥淥ur team will continue to keep in touch with all our customers, old and new鈥.
The sisters came from humble beginnings, growing up on a council estate in Chesterfield and working for firms including Robinsons and NatWest, before forming Total Waste Control.
As female business leaders in a traditionally male-dominated field, they helped to fly the flag for women in the industry by featuring in a fly-on-the-wall TV documentary, Bin There, Dump That , which shone a light on some of the different aspects of the waste industry that the public doesn鈥檛 usually see.
The sisters also won attention for their Calendar Girls -inspired charity calendars, featuring Denise, Elaine and their team in a variety of tongue-in-cheek poses, to help raise awareness and cash for several local charities.
They continue to raise cash for charity whenever possible and have a close association with their local football team, Chesterfield FC.
Elaine said: 鈥淭he secret to success in business is loving what you do, being happy in your work and having fun. It鈥檚 been great working alongside my sister for the past 21 years.
鈥淲e are like chalk and cheese, but we complement each other so well and cover each other鈥檚 weaknesses with our own strengths, so it鈥檚 a formula that works well.鈥
Denise said: 鈥淭he past 21 years have been enjoyable, demanding and varied, travelling the length and breadth of the 海角视频 viewing jobs. To be able to do it alongside Elaine has been amazing.
鈥淏est of all, we have a tight-knit team and many of our customers are now close friends, so it doesn鈥檛 feel like coming to work. We love what we do and the people we work with, and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 helped us keep going.
鈥淧lenty of opportunities lie ahead. Like all businesses, things ebb and flow, but we鈥檙e looking forward to building on the financial success we鈥檝e achieved in the past 12 months and really kicking on after the pandemic.鈥
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