Behind every strong team is someone making sure the culture that built it doesn't get left behind as the business grows. At North West Recycling, that's Paul.
My role is to make sure that as a business we follow our policies and procedures, that people come to work motivated and happy in their roles, and that we’re constantly developing our workforce. A typical day involves catching up with senior managers and department leaders, conducting meetings with staff at all levels, and keeping our policies up to date with employment law. I also run hearings and interviews. No two days are the same — but the constant is people.
HR has a reputation for being negative — the department you hear from when something’s gone wrong. But the majority of what I do is genuinely positive. Employee of the Month is a good example. It’s a simple thing, but it matters. Recognising people, celebrating them — that’s HR too, and that’s the part I care most about.
I wanted to work for a family-run business with genuine Cumbrian heritage and a history of giving back to the community. The £1 skip campaign for Youth Zone, the work done with EVH — that kind of thing told me a lot about what this business actually values. And when I arrived, the culture backed it up. Strong connections between staff, a real work ethic, and a shared sense of where the business is heading.
Gaining my CIPD Level 5. I went straight into Level 5 without doing Level 3 first — there was an exam essay and a practical interview examining my professional ability. It means a lot to be formally qualified as an HR professional. But I’m really excited about what’s coming — we want to invest in apprenticeships and structured development so people can genuinely grow with the business.
Feel-good. People genuinely like coming to work — they’re enthusiastic, motivated, passionate about the business. And that’s outstanding, given that nobody sets out to work in waste. That passion isn’t accidental. It comes from a culture that’s been built carefully over thirty years, and it’s something worth protecting as the business keeps growing.
The summer and Christmas parties last year were a real highlight. We’d taken on a lot of new staff, which can make that kind of thing harder — people don’t always know each other yet. But everybody made the effort to make each other feel welcome. That togetherness isn’t forced here. It’s just how people are.
The vision is to grow every aspect of the business — improve customer service, look after and support our people, and become one of the UK’s leading independently owned waste management providers. My role in that is developing our people strategy and building our presence in the community. It’s about making sure the people side of this business grows as fast as everything else.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t hold back ideas. New people come in with fresh perspectives, and that’s always valuable. We can always develop — and sometimes the best ideas come from someone who’s just arrived and sees things differently.
Celebrating 30 years of North West Recycling 30 Years of Building From What You Left Behind This year marks a proud milestone for North West Recycling as we celebrate 30 years of service to Cumbria — and we think that strapline says it all. Because that is exactly what we do: we build something valuable […]
And How We Can Help Prevent Tragedies Refuse not refuge! As temperatures drop and winter approaches, many people experiencing homelessness face increasingly harsh and dangerous conditions. In desperate attempts to stay warm, some rough sleepers seek shelter inside refuse containers such as bins and skips. While it may feel like temporary protection from the cold, […]
We’re proud to announce that North West Recycling (NWR) is now an official Club Partner and Waste Management Partner of Carlisle United Football Club for the upcoming season. Founded in 1995 as Brampton Skip Hire, we’ve grown over the past 30 years into the region’s largest privately owned waste management provider, serving Cumbria, South West […]
What are aggregate materials used for and what are their main benefits? Construction aggregates are often referred to as simply “aggregates,”. They are a group of materials that are used in construction to form the foundation of roads, buildings, and other structures. Indeed, there are several benefits to using construction aggregate materials in construction projects: […]
A simple guide to gasification and its benefits Gasification is a process that converts solid or liquid fuels into a gaseous fuel called “syngas”. This is done by oxidizing the fuel, creating a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and other volatile gases. The syngas produced can then be burned as a fuel in a gas […]
Hiring a skip is an excellent and convenient way of getting rid of waste in your home. During home and garden clean or clear outs, you will realize that you have different types of waste to dispose of. Before you embark on disposing of any waste, it is important that you understand what type of […]
Courage in business is rarely dramatic. Sometimes it simply looks like a family in Brampton choosing to do things differently. It started with a straightforward observation: the stone and soil arriving at a family farm inert landfill back in 1990 still had value. That instinct – to find opportunity in what others leave behind – […]
Thirty years on, the values Pam Allan brought to a kitchen table in Brampton still run through North West Recycling. Before the wagons and the processing lines, before the Rockcliffe site and the 133 -strong workforce, there was a kitchen table in Brampton and a woman answering the phone. When Rick Allan founded what was […]
Thirty Years of Partnerships. There is a version of North West Recycling’s story that focuses on the infrastructure – the 30-acre site at Rockcliffe, the 40+ vehicle fleet, the 150,000 tonnes of waste processed every year, with 98% diverted from landfill. Those numbers matter. But they don’t fully explain how an independent family business in […]
At North West Recycling, supporting our community means supporting the people in it — and that’s exactly what our sponsorship of Carlisle Reivers FC is all about. A Sponsorship Close to Home Grassroots football relies on the time, energy and commitment of volunteers, coaches and local businesses who believe in what a club can do […]
North West Recycling (NWR) is proud to confirm its official sustainability partnership with Carlisle United Football Club for the 2026/27 season. As the club’s waste management provider, NWR already plays an active role at Brunton Park – collecting and processing the ground’s food waste, glass, mixed recycling, and general waste at NWR facilities right here […]
When three local businesses come together for a good cause, the results speak for themselves. North West Recycling recently joined forces with Story Contracting and Heidelberg Materials to support a community improvement project at Eden Valley Hospice — helping create a new surfaced pathway that will make a real difference to patients, families and staff. […]
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is a diverse and intricate category of recyclable waste that poses unique challenges in the recycling process. This category of waste consists of various electronic devices, making it a challenging waste type to handle. Our primary goal is to achieve the best possible outcome for the waste we receive, […]
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