Georgi Billington, sales director at North West based Eco-Readymix talks all things concrete, mortars and screeds and answers some frequently asked questions about the company and the products on offer.
Who are Eco-Readymix?
Founded by Managing Director Gary Billington in 2008, the family-run business has a wealth of over 30 years’ experience in the industry. From our depots in North Wales and Cheshire we specialize in the production of concrete, dry and liquid screeds, ready to use & dry silo mortars.
What is your role in the business?
Over the years I have worn many different hats across the business as it grew, I now manage the sales team and marketing for the business. I started 15 years ago when we had a small team of 4 staff and we worked out of a little portable cabin. We then bought a small yard and have extended it year on year, it’s now over 6 acres and home to our head offices and 4 large production plants. Looking back now it’s hard to believe just how far we have come, it’s been a roller coaster and never a dull moment, but I am immensely proud of what we have achieved so far, we have big plans for Eco in the future so I am excited for what is to come.
What products do you produce?
From our 6 plants we produce ready mixed concrete, a range of traditional dry screeds, Anhydrite and Cementitious liquid screeds, ready to use mortars and dry silo mortars. We also manufacture pre cast concrete blocks and masonry bulk bags.
So what is eco about Eco-Readymix?
Here at Eco-Readymix we place great emphasis on reducing our carbon footprint across the business and producing our products in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Some great examples of this is our onsite wind turbine and solar panels that produce electricity then used to power our production plants and offices. Our heating is powered by a wood chip biomass boiler and we operate a fleet of electric cars for our staff.
We operate almost 50 HGV vehicles and most are new euro 7 engines with ultra low emission engines. Our delivery process is completely paperless as we use hand held devices to produce POD’s at the point of delivery eliminating the hundreds of tonnes of delivery paper work we used to operate.
We also invested heavily in a recycling plant that separates water and aggregates after its been used for truck cleaning ensuring we use recycled water again for further cleaning and repurpose the aggregate.
What makes Eco-Readymix different?
Reputation is key in our industry and we try to ensure our customers get the best service from enquiry to completion. Throughout our growth as a company we believe good working relationships are essential and being able to call a local office and speak to a friendly face goes a long way in a world of call centres and automated systems. We are never shy when it comes to investment either, we recently had 3 new batching plants costing over 1 million pound so our sales team have the confidence when selling our products and services that we have the best equipment, plants and vehicles available to fulfil the customers’ expectations. Being an independent we have the ability to make quick decisions and react to the market in order to keep us competitive and provide the best products.
What is it like to work at Eco-Readymix?
We pride ourselves on creating a company people enjoy working for. Starting as a small family business we have always tried to maintain the family culture throughout the company’s growth. We welcome everyone’s ideas and feedback and feel our business is built on people and their great working relationships with our customers. Innovation is key to the company’s success so everyone’s ideas and input are welcomed, listened to and valued.
What is your proudest achievement?
Developing our smart silos technology and seeing the success this side of the business has had in the past few years has been a great achievement and success for us as a business. It was a huge investment and leap of faith for us as it’s not a product any of us had dealt with before. We took a lot of time to really learn the market and discover what our customers wanted from a site silo and what they didn’t. This has lead to the development of our sonars and the silo app which has revolutionized the industry.
Also our charity work, we have raised tens of thousands of pounds for local charities over the years, most recently our charity ball where we raised over £30,000 for Hope house Children’s hospice and Gary’s cycle challenge where he cycled over 1000 miles from North Wales to Italy for Ronald McDonald Children’s charity.
So… what’s next?
We have never been one to stand still so our latest venture is a big one! We will be opening depot number three in the midlands very soon. From here we will be producing and supplying dry silo mortars, ready to use mortars and liquid screeds.
We already have a large customer base in the Midlands so by opening another depot here it gives us an additional supply back up plus a greater reach to go further afield. We hope the new location will also bring on board new customers.
