Nestled in the pretty Cumbrian market town of Kendal, just outside the Lake District National Park, is BMRA member, Allen and Myers Scrap Metal Merchants.

Established in 1943, the metal recycling yard was taken over in 2015 by John James Keegan jnr.

“It was a quiet yard when I took over the business, with about one customer a day. I realised that the local community were not aware of us, and I wanted them to know that they could both recycle metal with us and get paid for it.”

John James jnr undertook an advertising campaign, which saw the Allen and Myers name placed on the TV and in the newspaper.

“We ran the TV campaign before Christmas and it was great for getting our name out there, especially at a time when people want an extra bit of money.”

Thanks to the success of the campaign, the yard now sees as many as 30 customers a day, alongside the commercial customers that the yard has. John James jnr estimates that business is now 50/50 split between the commercial and gatetrade.

Thanks to this increase in trade the tonnage of the yard now takes in a month, what it would previously have taken a year to collect. 

“We are very much a local business, and I have no plans to move outside this area”, added John James jnr. “Being close to the M6 we can easily make the trip up and down between Lancaster and Carlisle, but we prefer to stay in the locality. Cumbria itself is a huge county, so that keeps us busy.”

The yard now employs six people, it has a 50-tonne weighbridge and is able to shear and bale cars onsite, as well as offering a skip hire

service.

“What’s great about this industry is not only about the recycling of metals, but it enables our customers to reduce their carbon footprint by getting that metal back into the circular economy and saving natural resources and energy”.

While the last two years have been extremely challenging for any business, the lockdown helped John James jnr to focus his mind, and he is glad to say that the last twelve months has been the best on record.

“I used the time to reevaluate what I needed to do with the business. I got back in the office, which was a challenge for me as I am used to being on the yard, and started to plan the way forward for us and it has paid off”, he added.

During lockdown John James jnr also organised an NHS haulage run, which involved 140 trucks and raised £3,000 towards the NHS.

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