As prepared by BMRA Board member, Nigel O’Gorman of FJ Church

From humble beginnings, with just a skip lorry and a few skips,40 years later Wye Valley Group has 160 employees, 40 HGV’s and a £50m annual turnover.

Sue Howell started in the business at a young age, regularly taking Fridays off school, accompanying drivers delivering non-ferrous loads, managing to get out of detentions to help out on the family farm. Her real education started once she began working full time in the company. Her father did things his own way, not always ending in the best results. One of her first implementations was not wanting to continue in exactly the same way.

When Sue and her brother finally took over running the company 30 years ago, it was struggling. Through sheer dedication, they both expanded the scrap metal side of the business, as well as branching out into other sectors, such as demolition, asbestos removal, ground works, quarrying and secondary aggregates, commercial property and architectural salvage. As we all know, many of those activities are highly regulated, but through resilience, drive and passion, they managed to make them all work. This turned the company into one of the biggest businesses in Herefordshire.

Her strong, principled leadership, has earned the respect of colleagues and staff, as well as of competitors and industry bodies. As a woman running a business in our industry, she has been both a trailblazer and mentor, particularly to younger women. That said, she is the last person to push a feminist agenda, preferring to be recognised on her own merit.

She is rightly proud of the fact that 99.9% of the scrap and waste that comes through the company’s 35-acre site is recycled, which shows her commitment to sustainability and innovation.

Sue was an active member of the BMRA board between 2017-2022. With her background as a Financial Director of her own company, she was of great assistance in compiling the BMRA’s accounts, doing so on her own time and without recompense.

Much of her extensive charity work goes under the radar, as she is not keen on fanfare or fuss.

Outside of work, her big passion is horseracing, and she has owned many winning racehorses, including of the Scottish Grand National and the Eider Cup. These horses compete with the same grit & determination she possesses to succeed in business.

Unfortunately, Sue was unable to receive the award on the night. Of the award, she said: “A huge thank you to the British Metals Recycling Association and everyone in our industry who has supported me over the years. I’m proud to represent Wye Valley Metals and to stand alongside so many fantastic people driving our sector forward.”