‘Huge honour’ as Derbyshire recycling company run by four generations of family wins prestigious national award

A recycling and waste management firm based in Derbyshire has been honoured with a national business award.
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Donald Ward Ltd, trading as Ward, is a waste management and metal recycling firm headquartered in Ilkeston. On Thursday, April 21, the company was honoured with a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade, being recognised for their outstanding short-term growth in overseas sales over the last three years.

Ward, one of 225 organisations across the country to receive a Queen’s Award, started trading in 1940 in Woodville, near Swadlincote. Incorporated in 1976, the fourth generation, independently-owned family business now employs nearly 400 people nationwide.

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Thomas Ward, commercial director at Ward, said: “Winning the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade is a huge honour for the Ward team. Our core business, which represents around 80% of turnover, is the buying, selling, processing and recycling of ferrous and non-ferrous metals from a variety of sources, including end-of-life vehicles and arisings demolition projects.

Thomas Ward, commercial director, said he was ‘excited’ about the boost to the business that this award would bring.Thomas Ward, commercial director, said he was ‘excited’ about the boost to the business that this award would bring.
Thomas Ward, commercial director, said he was ‘excited’ about the boost to the business that this award would bring.

“Over the three years to March 2019, thanks to significant investment in deep sea dock facilities and ongoing hard work of our dedicated teams, our overseas sales grew by 84%, a growth rate of 36% per annum. We were able to expand our export capabilities to service larger customers in Turkey, Egypt, India and Pakistan.”

“We are planning sustainable growth with significant future investment into our people, processes, equipment and infrastructure. We are excited about the potential opportunities that winning the Queen’s Award could bring to help us achieve our long term ambitions.”

The company collects and processes around a million tonnes of materials annually, recycling products such as metals, plastics, glass, cardboard, wood, textiles, soils, and hardcore to ensure its customers fulfil environmental regulations and commitments.

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It aims to divert 100% of the waste it processes from landfill and uses sophisticated metal sorting equipment to extract every last scrap of metal from end-of-life vehicles, as well as other waste electronic and electrical items.