There's an old saying "Where there's muck, there's brass." Calling it "muck" may not be quite the right description but at Sunderland-based Thompson Waste Centre the items that people want disposing of is the company's bread and butter - and has been for more than half a century
At the helm is Anne Ganley and, while she runs the company, it’s not unusual to find her in a hi vis jacket and a pair of steel toe boots, in the plant, overseeing the team. It’s a business that has gone from strength to strength and – along with continually creating jobs and supporting the North East economy – it also makes a significant contribution to protecting the environment. Being environmentally friendly is a subject close to Anne’s heart and something she turned her attention to long before it was trendy to so. The company recycles around 99 per cent of the waste it receives and is constantly looking at new ways to divert from landfill. Among the products it is able to reuse is timber that goes to powerplants to help with energy production, bricks which are used by the construction industry and plasterboard which is used in farming. The same can be said for the equipment the company uses. Over the past 10 months, Thompson’s has invested nearly £750,000 in new plant and machinery, new HGVs and containers. And one of its most recent investments was a six figure sum to buy a JCB Wastemaster, which allows the company to handle huge amounts of materials in a highly efficient and fast manner. Along with constant reinvestment into the business, the commitment to reducing climate change and its own carbon footprint has manifested itself in supporting other local businesses. Thompson’s recently gave the contract to repair its existing stock of 500 skips and creation of new skips to DLAW Contractors, based at the Port of Sunderland. As well as supporting another Wearside company. the move has meant Thompson Waste has reduced company mileage used on purchasing and fabricating skips by tens of thousands of miles a year. “I am a firm believer that if you can work with companies in the city then you should always do that,” she said. “The company’s work is of the highest quality and it means that I can finally source what I need from a local company, which I’ve not been able to do for many years. “We’ve managed to carry out smaller repairs in house but we’ve always had to go out of the area for quality fabrication but we no longer have to do this. “I hope this is the start of a very long business partnership for us both.” An active and supportive part of the community, Thompson’s has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity over the years – donating around £30k to North East charities since the start of the pandemic alone – and Anne has also made substantial private donations. She and the company are involved with everything from the city’s Memorial Wall to honour service men and women to supporting charities such as St Benedict’s Hospice and The Salvation Army. And that generosity extends to her staff – having recently bought £10,000 worth of travel vouchers from Hays Travel to share out among her team. “It was a way of saying thank you and of course another great Sunderland company which I always want to support,” she said.
