Redeem expands its horizons with new site and wider focus

Published on Saturday 12 September 2009 14:12

MOBILE phone recycling company Redeem is to expand its operations into London and is on course to almost double its turnover this year.

The Falkirk-headquartered company, which has 70 employees and also has operations in Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy and Turkey, said the new base will also focus on collecting and processing digital cameras, MP3 players, GPS devices and laptops.

Under the expansion plan, all mobile phones collected across its bases in the UK, Ireland, Italy and Turkey will be transported to its recently established site in Hong Kong – a world hub for the refurbishment and resale of mobile phones – to be processed and sold on to global markets.

The Asian sales and processing centre provides entry to a number of core emerging mobile markets including China, India, Africa and South America. Jamie Rae, chief executive of Redeem, said: "The opening of our London operation is very indicative of our strong growth and continued ambitions for the business.

"We are currently looking at ongoing opportunities within the UK, European and Asian operator markets as we grow our expertise and deliver the highest level of service for customers."

In the past year, Redeem has won multi-million pound contracts with three major retailers to recycle goods in exchange for loyalty rewards or vouchers, and developed strategic partnerships with nine leading charities across the UK, bringing its total charity partnerships to more than 200.

In January, Redeem said turnover was on course to rise from 5.6 million to 9m and it now expects a rise to 12m this year. Its business model generates strong revenue streams to charities, schools and community groups, while minimising landfill waste.

Initially Redeem plans to employ 15 new staff at the 15,000sq-ft premises in London, but this could rise to more than 50 people as the business grows.

The company, which started out recycling inkjet devices and mobile phones from Jamie Ray's bedroom in 1999, also works with the Scottish Prison Service to offer jobs to former convicts, hence the name Redeem.