A Sheffield expert in confidential waste is expanding to meet demand from SMEs realising they are at serious risk of a data security breech.

A Sheffield expert in confidential waste is expanding to meet demand from SMEs realising they are at serious risk of a data security breech.

Horror stories of confidential information falling into the wrong hands are serving as a red alert to business owners, says long-established Sheffield specialists Russell Richardson.

“Most large organisations have secure storage methods and strict policies for the disposal of their confidential waste,” commented Jonathan Richardson, MD of the Attercliffe company which has been family-run for 39 years.

“But many SMEs have been unaware of the risks they take on a regular basis when disposing of anything from paperwork bearing company and client information to computer hard drives and company mobile phones.

“These items cannot simply be thrown into a dustbin. Even burning waste is not failsafe. Companies are being hacked or exposing their customers to the risk of fraud as a result.”

In addition, data protection regulationin 2018 will mean businesses have a legal obligation to prove they have disposed of waste correctly and face harsh penalties for non-compliance.

Russell Richardson is expecting turnover to hit £5million within five years as a result and a growth plan for 2017 is underway. 

The company has devised an affordable data disposal service for small businesses and invested £150,000 in a state of the art shredder which ramps up its processing tonnage to seven tonnes an hour.

Recruiting for an accounts appointments setter and an account developer this month takes the workforce to 22 and the company anticipate growing the workforce by a further 20 per cent.

An internal restructure has also taken place, which sees its operations director Nicky Hellewell take on the role of sales manager following the retirement of long-serving employee Colin Ashton.

Nicky will drive growth in the new sales strategy and oversee customer care and marketing.

“I’m embracing my return to sales and I’m very confident I’m leaving operations in capable hands - our MD Jonathan is taking on the role,” she commented.

The restructure also means promotion for ops assistant Kirsty Plain to operations assistant manager.