Straight Plc

website:

http://www.straight.co.uk

Company details

What does it do?

Designs and sells waste and recycling containers, compost bins and water butts to European and overseas markets through a variety of trade names.

How is it social?

Chairman James Newman describes the company’s mission as one of facilitating the recycling process. By removing at least some of the hassle of recycling, the company hopes to decrease the volume of waste sent to landfill sites.

What is its business model?

Straight Plc designs the moulds that are used in making waste containers and water butts (manufacture is outsourced, mainly in the UK but also in Australia and North America - local to overseas distribution). The company also owns the intellectual property. Straight also provides services such as home delivery, marketing services and retail schemes including e-commerce.

Its containers are sold through a variety of trade names and can be broadly divided into the following categories:

Kerbside collection containers
Kitchen containers (for organic waste)
Home composters
Water conservation products (water butts and tanks)
Wheeled bins
Outdoor recycling containers (including for batteries, drink cans, chewing gum etc.)
Workplace recycling containers
Confidential waste containers- for use in offices
Hazardous waste containers

Straight sells products to both wholesale and retail customers. The company’s wholesale customers include local authorities, waste companies (for example SITA and BIFFA), water companies (who are now required by regulators to market conservation of water) and garden centres. Retail customers can buy through a number of websites including those which are co-branded with a partner utility.

Its history

Straight was founded in 1993 by Jonathan Straight, its CEO, and has grown both organically and through acquisitions. In 2005, Straight bought its main competitor Blackwall, which already had a strong position as a provider of containers to the composting sector. Through this deal the company also acquired Blackwall’s relationship with WRAP, the government’s Waste and Resources Action Programme. This association has helped Straight establish itself as a the key supplier of home composting containers to the UK Government's programme.

In January 2006, the company also acquired the Cloudburst name and its water butt products, just in time for the hosepipe ban announced in April of that year. The company’s distribution centre could not cope with the consequent rise in demand for water butts and various changes have since been made to the distribution model. All call centre and warehousing activity is now outsourced. The company also bought a 30% stake in Tapmagic, a company that produces a range of water-saving devices to be fitted on a normal tap to moderate the flow. The deal gives Straight exclusive distribution rights to the products in the UK.

In August 2007 the company bought Gummy Bins Ltd, a company producing bins for recycling chewing gum and in January 2009 it acquired Harcostar Garden Products, a 50 year-old premium garden brand.

More information

Current shareholders:	Hansa Trust PLC (8.1%), Rathbone Unit Trust Management (4.4%), F&C Asset Management – The AIM VCT Trust PLC (4.4%), BWD Rensburg Investment Management (4.1%), Calculus Capital Limited (3.8%), UBS Laing & Cruickshank (3.1%).
Chair:	James Newman
Year of incorporation:	1994

Company snapshot

Company type:	PLC
Address:	31 Eastgate, Leeds, GB, LS2 9LY
Telephone:	+ 44 (0)113 2452244
Blog:
CEO:	Jonathan Straight
Industrial sector:	Recycling and waste management
Social / Environmental benefit:	Waste reduction; Water;
Certifications:	Not Applicable;
Social business sector:	Alternative Energy and the Environment;

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