With the final countdown to Christmas underway, it won’t be long before Riverside Waste Machinery’s headquarters closes for 2014. So, what better time for managing director Jonathan Oldfield to look back on the year’s highlights? Here, he shares some of his favourite parts of the past 12 months – aside from having his first son of course – before considering what 2015 may hold in store for his growing waste baling company:
“It’s been quite a year for Riverside, so much so, that it’s hard to believe 2014 is almost over. It has flown! Since January, we’ve welcomed new clients from throughout the country, taking our customer base to almost 4,000. We’ve started working with more local authorities, NHS trusts, retailers, manufacturers, MRFs, construction companies, printers, food and drink firms, automotive specialists, and more.
Keen to satisfy even the most complex of customer needs, we’ve also expanded our range of waste baler consumables, to ensure everyone’s requirements are satisfied. And we’ve launched new finance options too, to make an investment in one of our waste balers, as affordable as possible. We’ve got the same office mascot though – Poppy the poodle!
Our first six months’ performance of 2014 were incredibly strong, much more akin to pre-recession days, and our projections for the latter part of the year are equally as buoyant. We’ve continued to invest in our technology, our people and our processes, and this appears to be paying dividends.
As enquiries at Riverside have continued to rise, so too has the level of interest from the media, keen to hear our expert opinion on a number of industry issues. Only recently we were asked to contribute to the ongoing ‘purchase vs rental’ debate, for instance, and in this month’s issue of LAWR you’re able to read my thoughts about the role of baling technology within the waste handling jigsaw. Our engineering manager Paul was in the MRW spotlight recently, when he took part in the magazine’s renowned Little Interview, and on a more local level, I shared my business views with The Yorkshire Times. We’ve got more plans to work with the media in 2015 too, as we realise the importance of passing on our knowledge and sharing opinions which stimulate debate, and ultimately, change. So watch this space for more thought-provoking articles authored by our team.
It’s fair to say we’re ending 2014 on a high. We’ve worked hard to gain some real growth momentum this year, and are now in a healthy position where we’re getting as many enquiries for our mill size balers, as we are for our more compact machines. This shows that we’re successfully targeting a wide spectrum of firms, all keen to improve their approach to recycling.
So, with lots of plans in the pipeline for 2015, we are very much looking forward to the start of the New Year. We are about to launch a new consultancy service, which will see us help even more clients develop revenue-generating waste handling scenarios. We want to expand our trade in used waste balers, and we may just have a new technology announcement on the horizon too. Watch this space, as they say….
It’s important to note however, that such a positive reflection is not just a case of us blowing our own trumpets. The UK’s recycling performance is under constant scrutiny as we work towards impending EU targets, but with so many companies approaching us to develop smarter waste management solutions, it seems the country has a lot to be proud of. We still have a long way to go to match the resource efficiency performance of some of our neighbouring European nations, but I certainly think we’re moving in the right direction.
I wish you all the best for 2015, and for those of who I won’t speak to beforehand, have a very merry and healthy Christmas.”
