Three Generations of Industry, Enterprise & Hard Work

The story behind Food Tech Solutions did not begin with a website, a business plan or an office.

It began generations ago with hard work, livestock, scrap metal and an entrepreneurial determination to find value where others might not see it.

Today, Food Tech Solutions specialises in industrial and food-sector demolition, strip out, asset purchase, machinery recovery and waste recycling. Behind the company, however, is a family history stretching back more than 60 years.

From David Sandham, through his son David Sandham Junior, to his grandson and Food Tech Solutions founder Wayne Sandham, each generation has built upon the knowledge and experience of the one before it.

This is our story.

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1964 — Where It All Began

David Sandham & Bradford Waste Traders

Our family history in the recycling industry can be traced back to 1964, when Wayne’s grandfather, David Sandham, and his brother Richard Sandham began what would eventually become one of Yorkshire’s established scrap metal recycling businesses.

The brothers originally came from a butchering background and started on a relatively small scale, collecting livestock before moving into the collection of scrap metal, rags and woollens.

Their original business, D & R Sandham, was based in Horsforth, Leeds.

As the business developed, David concentrated on the buying and selling of scrap while Richard managed the administrative side. Their complementary skills, determination and willingness to work hard created a successful partnership.

In 1968, the business relocated to Bradford and became Bradford Waste Traders, later becoming Bradford Waste Traders Ltd in 1986.

What had started modestly began to grow into a substantial recycling operation.

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Building a Yorkshire Recycling Business

The company’s early Bradford operations were based around the top and bottom yards on Back Muff Street.

Business grew rapidly. At busy times, customers would queue along Back Muff Street waiting to unload their scrap.

The company even hired out around 25 horse and carts, with collected scrap returning to the yard for weighing and processing.

David and Richard regularly transported scrap to Sheffield steelworks themselves, often travelling in two wagons in the evenings. These journeys helped establish relationships with metal merchants, steelworks and businesses far beyond Bradford.

As volumes increased, the operation eventually moved to the much larger five-acre Newgate Works site on Bowling Back Lane, giving the company the space required to expand its processing capabilities and serve customers throughout Yorkshire and beyond.

The principles established during those early years were straightforward:

Work hard. Know the material. Understand its value. Treat people properly. And deliver what you promise.

Those principles would continue through the generations.

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From Scrap Metal to Farming

Never Afraid of Hard Work

David and Richard’s ambitions extended beyond the scrapyard.

Both shared a passion for farming, horses and cattle, and the success of the recycling business enabled them to pursue another long-held ambition — owning their own farms.

In 1980 they purchased Town End Farm near Yeadon, followed by nearby Shaw Lane Farm in 1986.

Together with additional parcels of land acquired around Yeadon and Guiseley, their farming interests eventually extended to more than 300 acres.

At their peak, the farms were home to more than 700 cattle and 500 breeding sheep, with dairy cattle milked on the farms and other cattle finished for beef and sold through livestock auctions.

The combination of farming and scrap recycling might appear to be two very different worlds, but both demanded many of the same qualities: commercial judgement, resilience, practical knowledge and an understanding that nothing replaces hard work.

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The Next Generation

David Sandham Junior

That same entrepreneurial attitude continued with David’s son and Wayne’s father, David Sandham Junior.

Rather than simply relying on the family business, David Junior forged his own path.

He initially concentrated on farming, dealing extensively in sheep and cattle for a number of years before returning to another part of the family’s roots — butchery.

David Junior went on to own and operate a busy butcher’s shop on Town Street in Horsforth.

Through hard work he developed the shop into a successful business before eventually selling it and moving into the next stage of his career.

That stage would ultimately have a major influence on the creation of Food Tech Solutions.

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Moving into Commercial & Industrial Projects

After leaving the butchery business, David Junior moved into the scrap metal industry, developing a particular interest in large commercial shutdowns, industrial machinery and asset recovery.

This took the family’s experience beyond traditional scrap metal recycling and deeper into the commercial and industrial sector.

He developed knowledge not simply of what material was worth as scrap, but of the value contained within complete machinery, production equipment and industrial assets.

Over time, his work expanded into the purchase, sale and export of large-scale industrial machinery, dealing with equipment and clients across different industries and markets.

It was an environment where understanding the true value of an asset could make an enormous difference to the outcome of a project.

And the next generation was already learning alongside him.

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Farming on a Larger Scale

David Junior later purchased his own farm in Lincolnshire, where he developed a substantial livestock operation.

At its peak, the farm held approximately 950 fat cattle and 300 sheep.

It was here that his son Wayne Sandham began taking on serious responsibility.

After leaving school, Wayne went directly into the farming side of the family operations.

This wasn’t simply helping out occasionally.

Wayne was involved in the day-to-day running of the farm, looking after livestock, organising cattle and managing the sorting and sale of approximately 180 cattle every week, while helping care for a total herd approaching 950 head.

He spent around five years immersed in the farming operation.

It provided an education that could never have been gained from a classroom.

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Learning the Business from the Ground Up

“I Didn’t Start at the Top.”

Wayne’s introduction to work had actually started much earlier.

As he remembers it:

“My father started me on the sweeping brush as soon as I was old enough to pick it up.”

That approach would prove invaluable.

There were no shortcuts and no expectation that being part of the family meant starting at the top.

Experience had to be earned.

After approximately five years working in farming, Wayne moved further into his father’s core commercial business, helping with the purchase, sale and export of large industrial machinery.

For approximately another four years, he worked alongside his father learning how to assess and purchase equipment, negotiate sales, understand machinery values and, importantly, deal professionally with clients.

It provided Wayne with another side of the education that would eventually lead to Food Tech Solutions.

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Into Metal Recycling

Building a Lincolnshire Operation

The next chapter began when David Junior purchased his own scrap metal recycling yard in Lincolnshire.

Wayne was given responsibility for its day-to-day operations.

It effectively began as a blank canvas.

Building the business required developing relationships, winning customers, understanding local markets and putting the systems in place to efficiently receive, sort and process material.

Through sustained hard work, the yard developed a strong client base throughout the Humber region.

At its height, the operation was processing approximately 8,000 tonnes of material per year, alongside around 1,500 end-of-life vehicles annually.

For Wayne, this was another important stage in understanding the complete lifecycle of materials and assets.

He had now experienced farming and livestock, industrial machinery purchasing and sales, international machinery export, scrap metal processing, recycling, customer management and the day-to-day operation of a busy recycling facility.

But something else was becoming increasingly apparent.

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Identifying a Problem in the Industry

The Idea Behind Food Tech Solutions

Through years of working with businesses across the recycling, industrial and food sectors, Wayne began noticing the same problem repeatedly.

Industrial clients often didn’t realise the recoverable value contained within their sites, machinery and redundant assets.

In some cases, businesses were paying significant sums for demolition, strip out, machinery removal or shutdown services without the recoverable value of the equipment and materials being properly recognised.

Wayne could see both sides.

His experience in machinery purchasing and sales meant he understood the potential resale value of equipment.

His recycling experience meant he understood the recoverable material value.

And his experience around industrial projects meant he understood the cost and complexity of actually completing the work.

Bringing those three areas together revealed an opportunity to offer clients something different.

Wayne approached his father with an idea:

There was a gap in the market — and he wanted to fill it.

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Food Tech Solutions Is Born

Food Tech Solutions was created to provide industrial and food-sector clients with a more complete approach to demolition, strip out, decommissioning, asset purchase and waste recovery.

Instead of looking at a project purely as a demolition or removal job, we look at the complete value contained within it.

What machinery can be resold?

What assets can be purchased?

What equipment can be reused?

What materials can be recycled?

What can be recovered instead of going to waste?

And how can all of this be used to deliver greater value for the client?

This approach allows Food Tech Solutions to provide a joined-up service while helping clients reduce unnecessary costs, maximise recovery and remove much of the time and hassle involved in coordinating multiple contractors.

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Three Generations. One Continuing Story.

From David Sandham collecting scrap and building a Yorkshire recycling business in the 1960s, to David Sandham Junior dealing in livestock, running his own butchery business and developing expertise in industrial machinery, shutdowns and recycling, the knowledge behind Food Tech Solutions has been accumulated over generations.

Today, Wayne represents the third generation.

With around 20 years of personal hands-on experience, he combines the lessons passed down by his grandfather and father with experience gained through his own successes, challenges and mistakes along the way.

That experience matters.

Because when we walk onto an industrial site, we don’t just see something that needs demolishing or clearing.

We see machinery. We see assets. We see recoverable materials. We see potential value. And we understand the work required to recover it.

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Built on Experience. Focused on the Future.

The industries may have changed dramatically since David and Richard Sandham first began collecting scrap in the 1960s.

Horse and carts have been replaced by specialist vehicles and heavy machinery. Recycling has become a highly regulated professional industry. Modern food and industrial facilities contain increasingly sophisticated equipment and technology.

But some things haven’t changed.

Hard work matters. Experience matters. Relationships matter. And your word matters.

Those are values that have travelled through three generations of our family and remain at the heart of Food Tech Solutions today.

Our ambition is to build on that heritage by providing modern industrial and food businesses with a professional, safe and commercially intelligent service.

Not simply removing what is no longer required, but understanding its value and finding the best possible outcome for our client.

A Personal Message from Wayne

“I didn’t start at the top. My father had me on a sweeping brush as soon as I was old enough to pick one up.

Since then, I’ve worked through farming, livestock, machinery sales and purchasing, export, scrap metal recycling and industrial projects. I’ve made mistakes, learned from them and gained experience at every stage.

Food Tech Solutions was created because I could see that industrial and food-sector clients weren’t always receiving the value they deserved from their assets or the projects they were having completed.

My aim is to change that.

We want to save our clients not only money, but also time and the hassle that comes with managing complex projects.

I am proud to be the third generation of my family working in this industry and proud to carry forward the knowledge passed down by my grandfather, David, and my father, David Junior.

Put your trust in us and we will not let you down.

Thank you,

Wayne Sandham

Founder, Food Tech Solutions”