Paul Cox

Paul entered the waste industry at 20 years old, starting as a driver and then subsequently creating and operating various waste businesses. He joined Reconomy in 1999, firstly as Operations Director and then played a key role in the management buy-out (MBO) in 2001. Growing the business successfully on the back of a best-in-class service for clients in housebuilding and construction, Reconomy then took private equity investment in 2006 with Bregal Capital becoming majority shareholder.

Following the economic crash of 2008, Paul, now CEO, re-focused Reconomy on a strategy of technology-enablement, dynamic and accurate data for customers and dedicated service propositions for a broader range of sectors including infrastructure, utilities and commercial industry. Paul’s passion, forward-thinking and demands for innovation have seen the Reconomy group grow exponentially from £87m turnover in 2015 to £330m in 2020.

2017 was a milestone year for Paul and the company. There was a further ownership change with EMK Capital becoming majority shareholder, Reconomy was named Company of the Year in the Shropshire Business Awards and Paul was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the Transformational Leader category. Further recognition was received in 2018 as Paul featured in the LDC Top 50 most ambitious business leaders.