Tell us about the business.

J&B Metals was started by my parents back in the 90’s; our family has worked hard to build a trusted name here in the Hunter Valley ever since. We recycle industrial scrap metal, but rather than just recycling what you bring us, our team goes to site and cleans up the scrap, cutting it into transportable pieces and taking it away. We also provide (and regularly empty) handy scrap bins to all the local industrial areas to keep your workshops tidy.

How long have you been doing business?

J&B Metals has been going strong for 26 years and counting.

How many people work for the business?

There are five of us.

Describe a typical day at ‘The office’.

Well the office can be anywhere from the actual office to mine sites, manufacturing workshops or anywhere that there’s old metal infrastructure needing to be removed. My day usually consists of site inspections to plan metal deconstruction and removal, project progress meetings, arranging transport logistics, planning WHS documentation and of course plenty of calls and emails with our clients to keep all the projects running smoothly.

What are the biggest challenges facing your business?

Three things. First is the unlicensed and uninsured “scrap metal buyers” trawling sites and offering cash which is illegal and dangerous. The second is quickly fluctuating steel prices and our third challenge is getting the word out to the sites we haven’t worked with and don’t know about us, or they don’t realise that we can actually take care of your whole clean up from planning to transport and disposal.

What are the biggest opportunities for your business right now?

The fact that most people are embracing how important recycling is to sustainability and that there’s an increased focus on safe workplaces.

We can be the solution to both of these things by cleaning up and recycling redundant equipment that could be an accident waiting to happen.

What is the business most proud of?

We’ve built up some fantastic relationships over the years. We’ve worked hard and we’ve always remained ethical and reliable so our long-term customers will stay with us because they know we’ll always do the right thing by them. 

Community or other causes close to the business’ heart and values?

We love supporting local sporting communities including the Pokolbin Reds, but our biggest passion is helping those in need. We’ve held two major fundraising events in the last two years in support of the Mark Hughes Foundation, raising and donating over $170,000. 

Our next big goal is to help raise 75k for The Path 2 Change Organisation through the Casino Fundraiser night at Nineteen in March.  We’d love to have lots of readers there to help get some money together to help with the growing issue of youth homelessness in our area. They’re a fantastic organisation that looks at long term fixes to the problem. The money will go towards training, uniforms, pre-employment checks, and pretty well everything homeless youth need to change the course of their future.

You can find our more at: https://nineteenhuntervalley.com.au/event/path-2-change-casino-fundraiser-night/ and https://www.path2change.org.au.

Any employees that deserve a shout out?

We’re really proud of our whole team. They’re hard working, loyal and reliable.  It’s only a small team, but we get the work done!