Ipswich recycler Sackers scoops King's Award for Enterprise

Recycling company Sackers - which operates recycling centres in Claydon and Needham Market - has received a King's Award for international trade.

The £65m turnover company - which employs 110 people - trades across the world with countries including India, Pakistan, China and Japan

Chief executive David Dodds said: “We are over the moon with this recognition.

"We have faced some incredibly challenging times over the last few years, so to be able to achieve growth of this level shows that our growth strategy and investment has been the right decision.

"We will continue to invest and increase our throughput to maintain this growth and international trade growth further.

"It’s only been made possible with the team I have around me and I would like to thank them for all their hard work in making this possible."

Since the awards began in the mid-1960s just 7,000 businesses have received it.

Sackers has overcome a host of challenges over the last few years from the pandemic to port strikes, red diesel tax costs, driver shortages and inflation.

In a letter confirming the award, the King's representatives said: “The last few years have been a challenging time for businesses and this achievement is testament to the resilience you and your staff have shown throughout these unprecedented times."

Sackers will be formally presented with a Grant of Appointment scroll by His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant, King Charles’ personal representative.

David Dodds will attend a royal reception hosted by the King at Buckingham Palace in June 2023. 

The award will last for five years and means the business can use the Enterprise Emblem mark on literature and marketing.

Sackers began in 1923 as a small scrap metal yard in Ipswich and has remained in the family since.

It has invested in a granulator which extracts copper from cables, producing metal pellets and collecting plastic residue.

The metal extracted from waste, cables, scrap vehicles and machinery is mainly exported to countries like India and China, where it is smelted down to re-enter the supply chain as a pure product.