Sevenoaks, Kent, England: Municipal services specialist Verdant Group Plc, has appointed its third contract portfolio manager following continuing business expansion.
The new contract portfolio manager position has been filled by Mick Gumble, who was Verdant’s business manager for its Arun District Council contract. The knock-on effect is that the Arun business manager post goes to Laura Greenfield-Parker, formerly operations manager on the contract.
Mick Gumble’s promotion gives him have overall operational responsibility for Verdant’s waste, recycling and cleansing contracts with seven local authorities - Bridgend, Camberley, Arun, Chiltern, South Bucks, South Oxfordshire and Wycombe. The contracts involve approximately 400 Verdant staff and 170 vehicles collecting around 98,000 tonnes of waste and 71,000 tonnes of recyclables annually.
Gumble joined Verdant in 2005 as business manager for its Arun contract, overseeing 135 staff servicing waste and recycling collections, street and beach cleansing, and the award-winning Arun Green Waste Club. He was previously employed by Cleanaway Ltd and MRS Environmental Services.
Verdant managing director Roger Edwards said:
“Verdant’s continuing expansion in the local authority market, a key part of Greenstar UK’s growth strategy, dictated our need for a third portfolio manager. Having proved his capabilities at Arun, Mick was the ideal candidate for the position, and I have every confidence that he will be a valuable management asset for the business.”
Verdant was awarded Arun District Council’s seven year contract in 2005 and implemented “wide-ranging changes” to improve the district’s recycling rate. Under this contract, a record recycling rate of 40% was achieved in 2007.
Verdant
Verdant Group Plc, part of the Greenstar UK group, provides waste collection, recycling and cleansing services for an expanding local authority customer base in England and Wales. The company says it makes an estimated 20 million-plus waste and recycling collections annually on behalf of its 20 current local authority customers.
Recent additions to its portfolio include a seven year waste, recycling and cleansing contract for Stratford-on-Avon District Council; seven year cleansing, waste and recycling contracts for Rother District Council and Swale Borough Council; a seven year recycling, refuse and cleansing contract for South Buckinghamshire District Council; and, as its first London borough contract, a six year waste collection and recycling service for Waltham Forest Council.
During 2007, Verdant also started a six year management contract for seven of Kent County Council’s 12 household waste recycling centres.