Further contract with May Gurney

TIDMSTT

Straight PLC

27 March 2012

 
 Date:              27 March 2012 
 On behalf of:      Straight plc ("Straight" the "Company" or 
                     "the Group") 
 Embargoed until:   0700hrs 
 

Straight plc

Further contract with May Gurney

Straight plc, the environmental products and services group is pleased to announce that it has won a key new contract with May Gurney, the support services specialist.

The contract, for a new recycling and waste service for Cheshire West and Chester Council, is worth more than GBP800,000 and will see Straight manufacture and supply almost 400,000 recycling containers including kerbside boxes and food waste caddies to residents in the Borough.

As part of the new contract, May Gurney will introduce a weekly dry recycling and food waste collection which will cover more than 147,000 properties in the area. Residents will each receive two 55 litre Ergo Kerbside Boxes to collect their dry recyclables in, a 7 litre Kitchen Caddy to collect food waste in the kitchen and a 23 litre Kerbside Caddy to store collected food waste outside the home.

The new service will transform the area's three individual existing kerbside recycling collections into a single, unified borough-wide service. The Council believes that this will help meet its objectives of delivering higher recycling rates, improved customer service and value for money.

The Council, which currently has a recycling rate of 49%, hopes that providing a weekly collection of these services will maximise participation and enable them to achieve a recycling rate of 63% once the scheme is fully implemented. The new recycling scheme is also set to save the Council in excess of GBP1.5 million per annum.

The new harmonisedcollection service will be rolled out in three phases over the next eight months. The new service allows residents to recycle glass bottles and jars, mixed paper, cardboard, food and drinks cans, aluminium foil, mixed plastic food packaging, textiles, food and beverage cartons (tetrapaks), household and car batteries, spectacles, small electrical items, mobile phones, used cooking and engine oil, shoes, printer cartridges, garden waste and kitchen waste, from their doorsteps.

Jonathan Straight, Chief Executive of Straight plc commented:

"This is another significant contract win for Straight and is testament to our market-leading proposition. We are delighted to be working with May Gurney on another pioneering recycling project. We admire the ambition of setting a target higher than the average and I am looking forward to seeing this achieved".

- End -

For further information: please contact:

 
 Straight plc 
 Jonathan Straight, Chief Executive    07977 002 366 
 
 Redleaf Polhill 
 Rebecca Sanders-Hewett /Jenny Bahr    0207 566 6720 
 
 Cenkos Securities 
 Ivonne Cantu (Nomad)                  0207 397 8980 
 Christian Hobart (Sales) 
 

Notes for editors:

About Straight plc

-- Straight plc is the UK's leading manufacturer and supplier of specialist kerbside recycling containers, as well as being a key supplier of a broad range of waste and recycling container solutions. Founded in 1993 by the current Chief Executive, Jonathan Straight, the business has since supplied more than 25 million kerbside boxes, baskets and caddies to local authorities across the UK, securing its position as the industry leader.

-- The business operates through two divisions. The core Trade Business supplying products in bulk to local authorities, utilities, the waste industry, retailers and other businesses and the Retail Business supplying a range of proprietary environmentally friendly consumer products directly to the public, often in partnership with a local authority or a utility.

-- In 2010 two major acquisitions changed the business model, which previously relied on outsourced manufacture. In March 2010 Straight acquired the business and assets of the UK business of Helesi plc giving it a proprietary position in the wheeled bin market. This was followed in August 2010 by the acquisition of Powell Plastics, a key supplier of injection mouldedproducts to the group. The Powell factory, in Hull, has since been developed to include a blow mouldingcapability.

-- In February 2009, Straight added to its portfolio with the acquisition of Harcostar Garden Products, a long established premium brand consisting of water butts, compost bins, watering cans and accessories. This gained new distribution channels for the business in the UK and in Europe.

-- In 2005, Straight acquired Blackwall Limited, the UK's largest supplier of home composters and water butts. Through the Blackwall brand, Straight has delivered more than 3.5 million compost bins and water butts.

-- Almost two thirds of the products the Group supplies are now produced in Straight's own factory.

-- Straight plc has established diverse overseas sales channels for its products, some of which are manufactured locally to their markets in North America and in Australia. Other markets are serviced from UK production.

Further information about the company and its products can be found at: www.straight.co.uk

About May Gurney

-- May Gurney is one of the UK's leading support services businesses and employs more than 5,300 people across the country.

-- The company delivers environmental services for 20 local authorities, covering more than 2.2 million households across the UK.

-- Their focus is on working with our clients to develop better ways of collection in order to extract the maximum value from recycled materials and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

-- May Gurney's core services include kerbside recycling and refuse collections, street cleansing and the management of household waste recycling centres (HWRCs).

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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