Former apprentice Luke secures directorship at Fareham firm after ‘action-packed’ 12-year tenure

Back in 2012, Luke Haskell joined the team at TJ Waste & Recycling in Fareham as an apprentice marketing and sales assistant.

He’s since made the jump to marketing manager, then general manager, and now, 12 years later, Luke’s taken a seat on the company board as commercial director.

Part of TJ Group – which also runs a bulk haulage and muck-away business – TJ Waste & Recycling provides commercial waste management and workplace recycling services for the likes of Portsmouth’s Victorious Festival and firms across the South.

John Gosling, MD of TJ Group, said: “Luke’s appointment to director is thoroughly deserved.

“TJ paid for Luke’s NVQ in business administration when he began with us and it was an investment which has repeatedly paid for itself.

“Luke, who came to us from college for vocational learning at the age of 19, has worked tirelessly for the company since then, fostering innovation and addressing legacy challenges which come with many well-established businesses.

“As a ‘digital native’, he’s credited with helping TJ forge a strong local market presence and brand awareness through transforming our social media, logo, digital marketing and website functionality, along with making the online ordering service for customers as convenient and simple as possible.

“Furthermore, Luke has generated new waste management contracts with local authorities and in the private sector and has supported TJ with intellectual property rights for innovations – including iBlend, a recycled aggregate we sell for use as a sub-base beneath highways and construction projects.”

Luke studied to degree level while juggling full-time work with TJ, earning his Master of Business Administration, Strategic Leadership at the University of Portsmouth – and even becoming a Doctor of Business Administration, Organisational Leadership with the University of Winchester.

He said: “The 12-year journey from apprentice to director at TJ has been action-packed.

“What motivates me is to see the company as an industry leader, one that others in the sector aspire to become, where best practice is the norm in every sphere of operation.

“I cannot tell you how delighted I am to have repaid the belief TJ had in me from the start.

“This is an industry which can only grow as domestic and trade waste becomes an ever more important and valuable recycling resource in the UK.”

Nowadays, the group employs 197 people and operates a fleet of 80 liveried vehicles, with Terry ‘TJ’ Higgins still at the helm as chairman and owner.

They operate materials recovery facilities in Portsmouth and Southampton; transport depots across the South; and quarries in Southampton and Petersfield.

TJ Group is also listed among the 250 top companies by turnover in the Solent region by The Business Magazine.

• tj-group.co.uk

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