'WHERE ARE THEY NOW' BY SANDRA DICK
Globe trotter: Darren Davis (Left) and Graeme in action (Above)
clubs and then crossing the globe to join Woodlands Wellington in Singapore.
But as his playing career stalled, Darren found himself trying to fi gure out what to do next. “It’s diff erent now - if you play in the Championship at First Division level and look after your money, you don’t have to work again. But I came out looking for a job.”
He found one fi rst in sales with Veolia in Derby and then for Dicom, quickly learning about a world of waste management and the kit that goes with it.
“It was a massive learning curve,”
he admitted. “I started off dealing with wheelie bins, and finally worked up to roll on roll offs and kit to deal with hazardous materials.”
These days he’s sales manager for specialist plant builder Sutco UK (www.
sutco-uk.com), responsible for increasing sales right across the country.
"I’ve been lucky.”
The fi rm recently designed, manufactured and installed a new mechanical pre- treatment (MPT) plant and fuel conveying system for Energy Works (Hull) Ltd, to
receive RDF prepared by others from municipal and C&I waste.
Football, meanwhile, has taken a back seat. As work took over, Darren left his coaching role at Notts County’s youth academy. Saturdays, he says, are now for playing squash.
He added: “Leaving football can be lonely, you hear people being depressed. You go from that success, spending a lot of time with your team mates, to being completely on your own - I’ve been lucky.”
Other ex-sporting heroes who have gone into the world of waste and recycling....
MICKEY COLEMAN was a Gaelic football star for Tyrone and a 2003 All-Ireland Champion, these days he runs Shoreline Contracts (
www.shorelinecontracts. com) in New York - which specialises in environmental clean ups.
Further back, FRANCES ‘FRANNY’ LEE CBE played for England 27 times, and made 249 appearances for Manchester City. He was still playing when he launched Bolton-based F.H. Lee, a paper recycling business which at one
time employed comedian Peter Kay. It was sold in 2000.
From the world of rugby, ALUN WYN DAVIS, played for Swansea, Coventry and Neath before going on to be the Welsh Rugby Union Women’s assistant coach. He is now Managing Director of AWD Ltd, which includes Swansea-based Rugbi Skips (
www.rugbiskips.com).
Meanwhile one time semi-professional player DARREN BLAND, managing
director of DJB Recycling (www.
djbrecycling.co.uk) in Sheffi eld, had a football injury to ‘thank’ for his business success story.
Unable to do his normal job for recycling equipment manufacturers BRG Engineering, he decided to branch out into the industry. His business now recycles on average 250 tonnes of cardboard and paper every week, along with other recyclable materials such as plastic.
Ex Red Devil Richard Eckersley with wife Nicola and daughter Willow
@SkipHireMag
SHM November, 2017
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