Home Appointments & Contracts Tees Valley Mayor praises J&B Recycling for Tees Valley employment milestone

Tees Valley Mayor praises J&B Recycling for Tees Valley employment milestone

Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen with Vikki Jackson-Smith, Managing Director at J&B Recycling

The leading North East recycling company, J&B Recycling has been praised by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen for continuing to offer opportunities for workers across the region.

The company has recently employed a further 10 staff thanks to a number of contract wins and its further expansion into the north of the region.

J&B Recycling has recently reported 40% growth, on top of the audited previous year’s 100% growth, in challenging and ever-changing markets for their products.

2018 also saw J&B Recycling win the Business of the Year Award at the Tees Businesswomen Awards.


Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor, said: “J&B Recycling is an amazing Tees Valley company and it’s been great to see its exceptional growth over the last couple of years, providing new opportunities to employees and apprentices from across the region.

“The fact that they continue to grow, go through upgrades and acquisitions and have a staff retention rate 10% higher than the national average shows what a great employer Vikki and the team are at J&B.”

According to Office for National Statistics, the UK average employee turnover rate is approximately 30% a year in Manufacturing and 28% in Transport and Storage. J&B Recycling’s turnover rate came out at just 20%.

Anne White, Human Resources Manager at J&B Recycling said: “There are many benefits to becoming an employee at J&B Recycling, as we are a local firm with 90% of employees from the Tees Valley area, 71% being from Hartlepool.

“We have 177 employees and 40 agency staff and take pride on having a strong and skilled workforce and encouraging talent and progression throughout the business.

“We do appreciate that some of the roles are not for everyone. It can be hard work and it can be dirty at times. However, we are doing our best with paid breaks and automated processes which help with the final human eye sorting process.

“In the last year, we have created new roles including business development manager, customer services manager, electrical engineer and process support administrator. The new site opening in Washington is also creating roles such as site supervisor and plant driver, which is very exciting.

“We have recently worked with the Job Centre Plus and Amacus Training on a back to work recruitment programme with the aim to recruit four recycling operatives.

“Seventeen delegates went through a two-week training course which included employability skills, health and safety, and environmental awareness with an interview and work experience. The four successful candidates began work on Monday 25 November.”

Many employees at J&B Recycling, such as management-level staff and rising stars, started out in the business through apprenticeships. The waste disposal firm work with local schools to attend careers fairs to promote the work it does in the region and to encourage recycling.

J&B Recycling is continually looking for new recruits on Indeed, Job Centre and social media.

If you are interested in any opportunities that are available at J&B Recycling, please visit the website.