COMPANY PROFILE
Top: Jay Mould Below: John Mould
“Registration number JDP 727L,” he says. “It was my first new lorry and one that I still have today in my Paradis Collection, fully renovated to its glorious original condition.”
Building up a business in the 1970s wasn’t all plain sailing. This was an era of recession, three-day weeks, power cuts and hard times. Yet John and his Leyland Reiver powered through.
“I began to source materials from the local gravel and sand pits to deliver to local builders’ merchants and other clients,” he explains. “In other words, a taxi for materials!
“There wasn’t so much competition. It didn’t take me long to realise where there’s muck, there’s money!”
A chance petrol station demolition job in the 1980s netted an impressive 80% profit. Not surprisingly, John’s focus quickly changed towards demolition work.
A new site at Hydecrete Pit, Pingewood, gave him room to expand his fleet to 10 tippers, while a site for a waste transfer station was rented from Reading Borough Council. The first transfer station in Berkshire, it was thriving years before recycling became popular.
“This enabled the business to grow significantly,” adds John. “We were able to remove concrete and materials from our demolition contracts, recycle and then sell as a graded material.”
The opportunity to sell the business in 2001 proved overwhelmingly tempting. But within four years he was back in charge, soon to be joined by his son, Jay.
The firm grabbed some of the Reading area’s biggest demolition jobs, specialised in the removal of asbestos and hazardous waste, and developed a well-oiled system.
Once on board, Jay’s fresh eyes spotted new opportunities. “The last couple of years have seen the business shift properly into recycling waste and wood,” says Jay. “We saw how much we were spending on other businesses to pick up that work from us. It was time to knuckle down, save a bit of money and be more efficient.”
A £2m investment last year saw the installation of a new MRF plant which enabled the business to take on new waste streams and find positive destinations for almost all it receives from commercial, industrial and domestic sources. From just 100 skips a year ago,
there are now 500, with plans to add more in the coming year. Waste at the expanded seven-bay picking station is destined for other uses, such as RDF or chipboard, with 99% of waste being recycled.
From just John and his truck, there are now 160 employees and a fleet of more than 60 vehicles – including a dazzling new metallic gold anniversary themed 32-tonne Renault Range C440.
Not surprisingly, John is fairly pleased with how it’s all turned out. “We have received many awards over the years but one I am particularly proud of is the award of Demolition Man of the Year in 2015 from the NFDC.
“And we are very lucky to have a very loyal workforce. Some of our employees have been with us for over 30 years,” he says.
“The business has weathered three recessions over the 50 years of trading and we are still here to tell the tale.”
J Mould (Reading) is at Hydecrete Pit, Pingewood Road North, Burghfield Bridge, Reading. Find out more at
www.jmouldreading.co.uk
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