interview Interviewee: Justin Widdowson Role: CEO Company: Total Waste Management (TOTALWM)
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How did you start out in the industry, what attracted you to it and how has your career developed to where you are now? You could say working in waste and recovered metals was in my blood, as both my father and grandfather worked in the sector, owning and operating their own metal recovery facilities. I’ve therefore been involved in the industry much, if not all, of my life. Obviously, in this time I’ve seen the sector evolve immensely, no two days are the same and, yes, it can be challenging at times, but the whole team has worked incredibly hard to make the business the success it is today.
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SUPPLIER TALK 48 | DemolitionHUB Magazine
Give us some background on TOTALWM and its story The history of TOTALWM goes back to the early 1950s when my grandfather, Albert Gordan Widdowson, opened his first yard (AGW Metal Company Ltd) in Edmonton, London. When my father joined the company in the 1970s, a number of other sites were purchased and in 1989 Total Waste Management was born, operating out of our Epping site. Following the sale of Metal and Waste Recycling Ltd to Barclays Private Equity in 2007, the TOTALWM business was retained by the Widdowson family to operate independently. In 2018 I became the sole owner of the company and its CEO.
Q
Tell us about the services TOTALWM provides and how your relationship with clients such as demolition contractors works We offer a bespoke service to each of our clients, designed to fit their material and specific requirements, DemolitionHub.com