TALKING BUSINESS
FIRM WON’T LET OPPORTUNITIES GO TO WASTE
A pioneering waste management firm has seen its profits and revenue increase by 30% in the past three years. Cawleys newly-appointed director of customer service ANNA CAWLEY reveals the secrets of the company’s success and its plans for the future.
Cawleys is an award winning waste management firm which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year. Initially, the business operated in the civil engineering sector, working on major road building projects such as the construction of the M1, but in the 1970s it recognised that waste disposal was a growth area and began to focus solely on that. In the following decade it opened its first materials
reclamation facility (MRF) which was followed in 1997 with a £2m investment in its second 40,000 sqm MRF. During the 1990s the Luton-based firm also opened new premises in Milton Keynes and Wellingborough and in 2008 it invested a further £3.5m into its current MRF.
During the same year, working alongside retail
chain Waitrose, it became the first company in the UK to provide a commercial food waste collection service and as a result of its pioneering work commercial food waste collection is now seen as a core service in the industry. The firm has continued to flourish
As well as investing in the latest technologies,
Cawleys monitors the latest developments in its industry and is well placed to anticipate its clients’ future needs. Anna said: “We want to continue to grow the
company and take it from strength to strength by supporting our customers. “For example, single use plastics is a hot topic in the
and today, its 200-strong workforce provides resource management services to 5,000 businesses across the UK, ranging from small firms to big corporates estates such as Canary Wharf Management in London, as well as major shopping outlets, shopping centres, hospitals and universities. Anna Cawley, who has been with the firm for 16
‘WE HELPED OUR INDUSTRY TO
news at the moment so we’ve been looking at how we can help our customers to move forward in this area. In January we launched a new recycling scheme so people can segregate out their single use plastic bottles and coffee cups to recycle them. Recycling coffee cups is not an easy thing for us to do, nor is it the most profitable, but we know there’s a demand for that service and it’s important to us to help our customers with their recycling and corporate social responsibility goals.” Its ambition to support customers
MOVE FORWARD’
at all times has also resulted in the launch of its new Customer Service Strategy. Anna explained: “We know our
customer service levels are good because our customers tell us but this strategy is about making sure everyone plays their part in delivering great customer service – whether they are directly customer
facing or not.” Cawleys’ ongoing success is particularly important to
years and recently became its first woman board director, said: “We’ve made significant investments in improving the business using technology and innovation, and have made customer service a top priority. “In recent years we’ve focused on modernising our
fleet of collection vehicles and equipping them with on board weighing technology. This technology enables us to tell customers how much they are disposing of in each collection so we can help them identify where they can divert materials to recycling which has financial and environmental benefits. “We give our customers a personalised service and
always want to have the edge over our competitors. This is why we were the first firm in the UK to offer a commercial food waste collection service. We helped our industry to move forward and helped divert food waste from landfill to anaerobic digestion plants – where it is turned into energy – or to other recycling routes. “We even help customers to find donation routes to charities to help them to be sustainable.”
18 inbusiness FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018
Anna who is the third generation of her family to work in the business which was co-founded by her grandparents, Reg and Molly, and her great uncle Frank. The firm’s current chairman is her father, Jon, and her sister Kate also works in the firm. Anna said: “I’m really proud of Cawleys and how far
it has come from its early days. “I’m particularly proud of the growth we have
experienced over the past three years and the improvements that we have made. “What we have achieved is thanks to a real team
effort. Our success is not just down to the board – we have a senior management team that is really involved in the running of the business and a dedicated workforce. This is underlined by the fact that we have recently received the Silver Investors in People Award which gives an indication of the type of business we want to be for our employees. “Our ongoing success stems from the fact that
customer service is central to everything we do and that is helping us to become our region’s go-to recycling and waste management company.”
Anna Cawley, the company’s first female board director
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