Our team has unrivalled experience of organics recycling with broad operational experience across the country to deliver a premium service for our customers. We are also supported by the BGF and its team of investors to help grow our operations throughout the UK.
Investors
BGF was established in 2011 to help Britain’s growing smaller and medium sized businesses. Backed by five of the UK’s main banking groups – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered – BGF is an investment company that provides growth capital for ambitious entrepreneurs running high growth companies.
In August 2015 BGF invested £2.2m in Keenan Recycling to support expansion in the Central Belt and its ambitions for growth throughout the UK.
Directors
Managing Director
Grant Keenan
Grant is the Managing Director of Keenan Recycling. He started a firewood business when he was 19, since then diversified into garden bark and in 2001 began recycling garden waste. Grant is a Chartered Waste Manager, former Scotland EY Entrepreneur of the Year and currently sits on the Board of Elevator and Dial-a-Bus. Previous Board appointments include Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, Aberdeen Forward, Association For Organic Recycling and he was a Centre Councillor for the Chartered Institute of Waste Management. He was previously Chair of BENE (Business Environment North East) and ORG (Organic Recycling Group).
Operations Director
Gregor Keenan
Gregor is Operations Director and joined the company in 2004. Responsible for site operations, processing and development. He has expertise in composting operations and Biofuel production. Gregor is a member of the UK Compost Certification Scheme’s Technical Advisory Committee, Research Panel and Market Development Working Group.
Collections Director
Claire Keenan
Claire is the company’s Collections Director, shareholder and fully qualified Transport manager, she joined the company when it was a small garden bark business in 2001. In 2003 the company diversified into organic waste recycling and Keenan Recycling was born. In 2014 Claire took over the Transport and Logistics arm of the business, which specializes in food waste collections. After a private equity deal with BGF, Claire headed up the expansion of food waste collections into the central belt and in 2018 took the company into England. Now operating from 9 Depots across the UK, Claire oversees collections nationwide.
Finance Director
Ritchie Clark
Ritchie joined the company in 2016. Having trained as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte, he gained significant corporate finance and M&A experience through his previous roles as a Director within Investment Bank, Simmons & Company, and the Bank of Scotland’s Acquisition Finance team and its debt and equity investment arm, Integrated Finance.
Director
Mel Keenan
Mel is an Executive Director at Keenan Recycling. As a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development, he takes a keen interest in the Company’s main asset, our people. He was formerly Chairman at RGIT Montrose and also Chairman at Montrose Park Hotels Ltd. Mel’s previous posts include membership of the Oil Industry Advisory Committee to The Health and Safety Executive, The Employment Appeal Tribunal, Chairman of the Sea Fisheries Training Council and Chairman of The EU Committee on Safety and Social Aspects in Sea Fisheries.
Chairman
Jim Clark
Jim is the Chairman of Keenan Recycling. He is a serial entrepreneur with over 250 investments since 1982 and c£120m of exits since 2007. He is an experienced Non-Executive Director with a broad range of management skills and five years previous experience as a Main Board Director of a listed PLC. He has a current portfolio of business interests, servicing over 3000 customers and a comprehensive understanding of mechanics relating to business law, accountancy and banking.
Board Member
Richard Pugh
Richard joined BGF in August 2011 and is based in Aberdeen. His role is to identify and successfully execute investments for BGF then work with portfolio companies to support their growth plans. Richard has 10 years’ experience in investments into small and mid-sized companies. This was initially as an adviser at PwC where he was involved in over 30 corporate and private equity transactions in the UK and overseas and since 2011 at BGF, where he has been involved in seven investments so far, with a particular focus on oil service companies.
Collections
Head of Customer Service
Andrew Gerlach
Andrew has worked with Keenan Recycling since 2015 when the growth in Central Scotland began. He was responsible for driving the commercial growth and customer service in Scotland. Andrew is now responsible for identifying our customer needs and oversees the delivery of our services.
Service Delivery Manager
Sara Borthwick
Sara started working at Keenan Recycling in July 2018 when she was taken on as an Operations Assistant. Two years on and she is now the Service Delivery Manager for the business. Her role involves upholding the smooth-running of the daily collection service. Sara’s previous roles before joining Keenan have been customer service focused.
UK Operations Manager
Jason Wiltshire
Jason joined Keenan Recycling in 2020 as UK Operations Manager. His role is pivotal to ensure that our operations are consistently efficient and identify any improvements that can be made. Jason leads operations by implementing the best processes and practices across our company. Jason liaises with collection crews and service advisors on a daily basis to ensure that we provide an outstanding level of service that can be replicated as we grow throughout the UK.
Transport Supervisor
Liam Buckley
Liam joined Keenan Recycling in December 2019. As Transport Supervisor he is responsible for the smooth running of the Collections Operation, ensuring collections and deliveries are carried out on time, to the highest standard and in the most streamlined manner, whilst working in conjunction with the Transport Managers and Supervisors to ensure the fleet and drivers remain compliant with Company policy and legal obligations. Liam previously worked in the car rental sector for 12 years, gaining a widespread knowledge of the car market.
Transport Operations Manager
Stephen Zok
Stephen was appointed to the role of Regional Supervisor in 2019. He joined Keenan Recycling as an HGV Driver back in 2016 and progressed by taking on extra duties to streamline this role. Stephen is responsible for overseeing all depots throughout Scotland, supporting the Depot Supervisors by assisting them in making their appointed depots safe, compliant and successful. He played a pivotal role in the expansion of Keenan Recycling as they opened depots in Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds.
Northern Transport Manager
Kirsty Atherton
Kirsty joined Keenan Recycling at the start of 2021 as Northern Transport Manager. Her role is varied but she is focused on supporting the growth of the company whilst ensuring the operations remain legally compliant. Kirsty has over 20 years’ experience working in waste management, with the past 10 years being spent in the commercial waste sector. She has strong experience within the industry, and uses this knowledge to assist the operations and employees in our North England region.
Logistics Coordinator
Graeme Gordon
Collections Coordinator
Hannah Wiltshire
Transport Planner
Martin Singer
Transport Planner
Deborah Gordon
Transport & Logistics Administrator
Katherine Henderson
Depot Supervisor Aberdeen
Ian Burnet
Depot Supervisor Edinburgh
Krystof Wilamowski
Depot Supervisor Glasgow
Robert Wylie
Depot Supervisor Newcastle
Rob Lowery
Depot Supervisor Salisbury
Raymond Harvey
Recycling
VCU and Biofuel Process Supervisor
Tomas Urbonas
Maintenance Manager
Ian Robertson
Yard Supervisor
Tony Fraser
Office Administrator
Josie de Vries
Sales
Business Development Manager
Luca Pornaro
Luca is a food recycling expert and in 2015 joined Keenan Recycling in the capacity of UK Business Manager to drive the business forward in the central belt, and expand it further in new areas of the UK. Luca moved to Scotland from Italy in 1998 where he spent almost a decade managing global contact centre operations for blue chip companies. He later started the “food waste revolution” in 2008 when he set up CORE, a social enterprise which was the first service in Scotland to offer food waste collections and recycling before moving on to manage food waste operations for Mitie and Binn Group.
UK Sales Manager
Gary Mills
Gary joined Keenan Recycling in late 2020 as UK Sales Manager. His role is to ensure that Keenan Recycling’s ambitious expansion plans continue throughout the UK. Prior to this, Gary spent ten years working for a manufacturing business supplying recycling and litter bins into the waste management sector. He worked with many blue chip companies along the way helping to develop waste and recycling strategies in a variety of different settings from retail and commercial, to corporate and higher education.
UK Sales Manager
Clare Pittman
Clare started with us in late 2020, to aid in the continuous expansion of the company across the UK. Clare is a highly motivated senior sales professional with an exceptional proven sales record spanning over 16 years. She also has the accolade of winning a Business Manager of the Year award. Clare has experience in all waste streams and is now responsible for focusing on food waste recycling to help grow our business throughout the UK.
Finance & IT
Finance Manager
Jacqui Gibb
Jacqui joined the company in 2020 as Finance Manager. She is responsible for the company’s financial accounting, reporting and control activities including providing organisational and administrative guidance for financial operations. Jacqui previously worked in the oil and gas industry in similar Finance Manager positions for 10 years. Prior to that Jacqui worked in a local chartered accountancy firm in Aberdeen where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
IT Manager
Neil Copestake
Neil joined Keenan Recycling in 2015 initially in the role of Financial Controller but as the business has expanded, he has been appointed to the role of IT Manager. Neil is responsible for managing the company’s computer systems and software, whilst overseeing the purchasing and installation of IT and telephone equipment and providing IT support to the Company. Prior to joining Keenan, Neil worked in Finance for the Aberdeenshire Council Planning and Environment Dept as well as Wood Group and KCA Deutag where he was also the SAP contact, helping to improve and develop the systems relating to the Finance department.
Credit Controller
Donna Williams
Accounts Assistant
Nathan Russell
Digital Marketing Coordinator
Georgia Williams
Compliance & HR
Environmental Compliance Manager
Rachael Reid
Rachael joined the company in 2015 and is responsible for maintaining compliance for our site permits and planning conditions to ensure we conform to all relevant regulations. She controls the PAS100 composting certification for the compost products produced at New Deer and also maintains the ISO9001 and ISO14001 accreditations company wide. Rachael acts as an ambassador for Circular North East promoting the circular economy and conducts small training sessions for customers and community groups to demonstrate the benefits of recycling organic waste.
HR Administrator
Jill Cameron
HR Administrator
Lynne Mitchell
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