A Derbyshire firm which manufactures and supplies a range of litter bins and planters that can be found in towns and cities up and down the country is celebrating half a century in business.
The products of Alfreton-based Amberol can be found in some of Britain’s busiest public places, including London, Birmingham, Nottingham and Leeds.
For 50 years, the firm has been working with councils, schools, colleges and universities, businesses and Britain in Bloom groups across the UK, Europe and beyond.
The business was founded in Derbyshire in 1969 by Jack Williamson and Phil Atkinson - and today is still family-run.
Phil’s daughter, Patience Atkinson-Gregory, is now Amberol’s managing director, while Jack’s granddaughter, Kay Hall, is also a director of the company.
Over the decades, the company has come up with a number of innovations to brighten up cities, towns and villages, while also encouraging people to deposit their litter in bins.
In the past, the firm has even come up with novelty shaped talking bins that thank the person for disposing of their litter responsibly.
While manufacturing its products in Derbyshire, Amberol’s reps travel all over the country offering free demonstrations so that potential customers can see exactly what they are buying.
Patience said: “In the world of online retail, where everything is bought at the click of a mouse, we think that it’s important to maintain personal service and for customers to see our products first-hand so they can ensure they are getting quality and durability.
“Budgets are tight, so people need to ensure that they are getting value for money.
“We’re delighted that our bins and planters have played such an important part in Britain’s public places for so many years and look forward to continuing that mission.”
According to Patience, much of Amberol’s success has come from listening to what customers want and developing products collaboratively to ensure they meet specific requirements.
An example of this came up with the Olympic Dual Recycling Bin, which was designed with Westminster Council for the 2012 London Olympics.
The bins were also used by Waltham Forrest Council around the Olympic Park.
But Amberol is probably best known by its customers for its self-watering planters, most of which require watering just once a week, saving time and money on maintenance.
Patience said: “We work very closely with our customers and have been supplying some of them with planters and bins for many years.
“However, needs change - for example, we have developed a range of recycling bins to help councils meet recycling targets.
“We are also happy to customise products by adding logos and signage as required. Basically, we aim to give the customer what they want.”
One of the newest products developed by Amberol to go on the market has been its multi-stream Cafe Bin, which is specifically designed for paper cup recycling.
It was designed to addressing recent concerns over the difficulty of recycling cups used by food and drink outlets.
Amberol has said that it has a raft of other new products in development, which it will “lift the lid on”, later this year.
