Food recycling firm Keenan to expand into England

The company, headquartered in Aberdeenshire, is on course to generate revenues of £6 million in the year to the end of March following the opening of an office in Linlithgow last year. The team of 20 based there organises the collection of waste from 2,600 hotels, restaurants and other establishments across the Central Belt.

The privately owned firm is also on the cusp of signing a major contract to collect domestic waste on behalf of a local council in Scotland. This is expected to be in place ahead of acquisitions that will take Keenan into the north-east of England within the next six months.

“We have two in the pipeline at the moment,” managing director Grant Keenan said. “One involves infrastructure, and the other is purely a food collection business.”

Turnover in the Central Belt is expected to “at least” double in the coming year following moves by the Scottish Government to tighten regulations that initially mandated recycling by businesses producing 50kg or more of food waste each week. As of January, that limit was cut to 5kg.

“In England there is not any legislation at the moment,” Keenan said. “That is only in Scotland, but it will eventually happen in England, which is why we want to get in there quickly and get established.”

The expansion is being supported by a £2.2m investment from Business Growth Fund, which took a 30 per cent stake in Keenan Recycling in September. That move coincided with the appointment of a new chairman, Aberdonian businessman Jim Clark.