Bruce Bratley: I make £4.2m a year from the recycle bin

Bruce Bratley saw there was money to be made in recycling London's office waste - so, he set up First Mile. And with expansion on the cards, Britain's other big cities are set to benefit from cheaper and more efficient recycling.

When his employers wouldn't listen to his expansion plans, Bruce Bratley realised that he needed to start his own firm. Bratley had spent three years as the commercial director of Valpak a not-for-profit trader of recycled package permits. He wanted to turn it into a profit-making organisation, but its owners, a coalition of large retailers, weren't keen. "They wanted to keep it as a cosy trade association," remembers Bratley, now 42. In 2000 he decided to leave. "I wanted to be free to grow a business and concentrate on making money."

Bratley wanted to set up a recycling business, but needed more time and money. He found a job as a recycling consultant while he worked on his business plan. "I realised the inner city waste market had potential. At the time private-sector refuse collectors were large firms concentrating on high-volume clients. They avoided smaller firms in congested areas." For many businesses the only option was local councils, "who often charged a lot for a bad service".

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.