A SCOTTISH company behind an industrial-scale, tyre-recycling plant is targeting growth after securing £370,000 of loan funding.
Motherwell-based UK Rubber, owned by chief executive Dave Ashurst, helps businesses across Scotland reduce carbon emissions by managing their waste tyre collection and disposal. As part of its recycling process, it extracts the steel fibres from each tyre and transforms the rubber into chippings and crumb for various uses, including tyre-derived fuel, playground surfacing and matting.
UK Rubber aims to increase its revenues by 92 per cent over the next 12 months on the back of the funding, which is being used to invest in machinery, bolster production and increase the current 10-strong workforce by 30% to meet the growth targets. The firm did not provide figures for its latest turnover and pre-tax profits, but highlighted its recovery and growth following a tough period of trading amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Reward Finance Group, which has South African-based investment company Genfin Holdings as its main shareholder and provides asset-backed lending solutions to small and medium sized enterprises, said of UK Rubber: “UKR has made giant strides in tackling the environmental issue of waste tyres being disposed of in landfill, since the directive on the landfill of waste banned the landfill of whole tyres from 2003 and shredded tyres from 2006. Key to its success has come through working closely with local authorities, businesses and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.”
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Mr Ashurst said: “We’ve always been a business that continually innovates and invests in cutting-edge processes, machinery and the people needed to meet the UK’s environmental waste management challenges. It promises to be an exciting 12 months ahead for UKR and we’re fully geared for growth to combat the 50,000 tonnes of waste tyres in the UK each year.”
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Brian Machray, business development director for Reward Finance Group in Scotland, said: “UKR is a real success story within environmental waste management across Scotland. It’s hugely satisfying to see that our tailored funding solution will enable Dave and his team to further innovate and propel the business forward on to another level.
“The finance provided to UKR is also a significant milestone as it represents the largest deal we have done in Scotland since launching here earlier this year."
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