Ucan Recycling Ltd

We Do What We Say We Do

Specialising in IT recycling and re-use, this not for profit organisation was set up by in 2010 with the social aim to not only strive for a 100% re-use rate, but more importantly to create jobs for the local long term unemployed.  See our coverage on regional news programme Look North.

We offer a free IT collection service to businesses and organisations including schools, universities and councils to clear out their redundant IT and to keep it out of landfill. We also offer a full asset management and secure data disposal service.

We are closely monitored and licensed by the Environment Agency to ensure that we abide by best practice and guarantee secure disposal of all data to ensure company and customer/patient details remain confidential.

Since the business was formed 6 years ago as a start-up one man band, we now employ 11 permanent members of staff. Our ethos from the start was as to try and create jobs wherever possible within the local community We wanted to help the long term unemployed get back into work. Our business is dependent on the volume of IT we collect and it follows that the more we take the more jobs we can create.

So five years ago we made a conscious decision to reach out to the unemployed community and became a host employer for volunteers to gain work experience, learn new skills, develop confidence and to become job ready -  all to increase their chance of getting paid work.

We have found that these schemes have a really positive effect on both the individuals as well as a company. We have seen first-hand that it is often through no fault of their own that they have not worked for a long time. Either bad health, family dependency care and bad luck have often led to a lack of self-worth and resentment and this spirals into a lot of negativity and resentment about the world around them. Our aim was to break the cycle and get people back in to the routine of working.

We have won awards for the work we do to help the unemployed find work. In 2016 we won Bradford Means Business Winner of Winners and Job Creator of the Year - see the video here .

Bradford Winner of Winners

Over the last 5 years we have had over 85 volunteers that have come through various Government back to work schemes and worked with agencies such as Interserve, the job centre or PLUSS agencies offering a course of 4, 8 week and six month placements.

From those 85, we have either provided or helped find jobs for at 33 people that we know about - this is probably higher. All admitted that their job success was a result of them being here as when you are working you tend to look more attractive to an employer as well as gaining that confidence and self-belief again. We believe there is no better reference than if they have by turned up to work every day unpaid and working in all weathers, it is certainly the best recruitment tool we have found and we are proud of our 28% statistic of getting people back to work. Whilst this figure might be look fairly low, there are a large number of individuals that come on placement with the strong will that they never want to work and are just completing the course to keep their benefits, we can and have changed opinions but there will always be those that refuse to help themselves.

We also employ our own staff from the scheme. For instance Colin, (pictured), who is one of out technicians, was unemployed for 14 years before we gave him a job. He now believes he is in his dream job surrounded by computers all day.