Minister's praise for Hartlepool recycling firm and its eye on the future

Guy Opperman, Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, joined Hartlepool’s new Conservative MP Jill Mortimer on a visit J&B recycling.

The company was established by Vicki Jackson-Smith in 1998, and today they employ more than 200 staff.

Vicki set up the firm to diversify from the parent company's solid fuel business into recycling and waste management.

The entrepreneur’s efforts saw her win Business Woman of the Year (medium business) earlier in the summer.

The firm collects, processes and recycles more than 200,000 tonnes of commercial and domestic waste per year including scrap metal, wood, plastic, paper, electrical/electronic equipment and general waste.

The Minister and MP had an opportunity to meet the team, with over 160 employees now saving for a pension through the firm’s automatic enrolment scheme.

J&B have recently interviewed and employed six young people through the Government’s Kickstart Scheme, which provides funding to employers to create jobs for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit.

Mr Opperman said: “Just 82 days after Jill was elected as Hartlepool’s MP, it was brilliant to join her to meet the team at J&B Recycling.

“As Pensions Minister, it’s fantastic to hear that so many employees have auto-enrolled into a workplace pension, and to meet one of the new Kickstarters.

“J&B are helping to deliver more jobs and investment for Hartlepool, which will be crucial as we recover from this pandemic.”

Ms Mortimer added: “I would like to thank Guy Opperman and the team at J & B Recycling for our visit. One of my key themes in the by-election was jobs, apprenticeships, and investment, so I was thrilled to meet a young man who has come to J & B through the Job Centre's Kickstart scheme.”

Winning the Hartlepool by-election was a feather in the cap of Boris Johnson’s administration in May.

The Conservatives took the seat from Labour after a hard-fought campaign which saw multiple visits by both Mr Johnson and opposition leader Keir Starmer.

It had previously been Labour since its inception.

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