History

Founder

Back in 1980 Mr Robert J. Shepherd took the necessary action required to make a start on his life mission which was to put an end to the devastating effect that everyday waste was having on our environment.

Given his field of expertise he chose his niche very carefully and carved it out with thoughtful planning and great skill. Within 15 months he had formed RJS Worldwide, a team of highly trained engineers working in his own purpose built workshops re-conditioning white goods such as washing machines, tumble dryers, refrigerators and dishwashers for sale both to the trade and directly to the public through his chain of 7 shops located on Merseyside, The Wirral, Cheshire and North Wales.

By this time RJS was known in all of these areas for helping underprivileged families afford the domestic appliance they so desperately needed to live a healthy and hygienic lifestyle which may not have been available to them before.

Growth

It did not stop there. Through advanced networking skills and sheer determination RJS Worldwide had by this time secured several contracts with outlets such as Currys, Comet, Argos and other household names to clear unwanted appliances which had been taken as trade-ins, unwanted waste or were faulty goods which had been returned for replacement or refund. Whilst a large proportion of these appliances (over 50%) were reconditioned and sold in the UK both to the trade and through the ever growing RJS Worldwide retail outlets, many were exported to needy Third World countries such as Africa, The Middle East, Asia, Eastern Block Countries and poorer parts of Europe.

Third World

RJS was not afraid to trust people in these countries, which were renowned for bad debts and consequently suffered difficulties obtaining goods from the UK and other developed countries. Far from it, RJS Worldwide is now the most established and trusted of all UK suppliers to these areas of the world. Due to years of hard work, appliances which would have been destroyed in the UK creating more landfill and damage to our environment, are now helping people who could never have afforded them if it was not for the vision of Mr Shepherd who has left nothing to chance.

Distribution

RJS Worldwide is one of the few companies in the UK to be completely self sufficient, even down to logistics. Mr Shepherd has built up a fleet of vehicles ranging from light vans to his fleet of articulated and other specialized lorries giving RJS Worldwide complete control of collections and deliveries thus building a reputation based on 100% reliability combined with the unrivalled logistic flexibility RJS Worldwide is and has always been able to offer.

Charity

In addition to this RJS Worldwide has relentlessly offered much needing charities a sustainable supply of goods and services making a noticeable improvement to the lives of people across the globe.

Scale of Operation

Since 1980 RJS Worldwide have handled over 9 million white goods (washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers, fridges, freezer, gas and electric cookers) out of which a staggering 4.5 million have been reconditioned and re-used with a reliability factor of 97%. This is by far a higher success rate than achieved by any of the worlds leading manufacturers of white goods.

The majority of units remaining have been stripped for spare parts or exported to Third World Countries leaving very little waste to be disposed of. When it comes to brown goods (kettles, toasters, irons, coffee makers, televisions, videos, DVD players, Hi Fi systems etc) RJS Worldwide have handled 12 million units out of which over 6 million units have gone back into circulation

Global Environmental Recycling Company Ltd (GERCO)

After much planning and a huge amount of preparation, Bob formed GERCO on the 12th of March 2002. Implementing a strict protocol focused on the destruction of blowing agents and other substances harmful to our environment.

Within two years GERCO had acquired the necessary machinery designed specifically to meet the WEEE regulations. Although they put the emphasis on re-use and recycling leaving only a small percentage of units handled for destruction, they will always stride towards complete self sufficiency thus maintaining 100% reliability and efficiency.

GERCO is one of the few UK companies to hold both ISO 9001 and ISO 1401, indeed, if a standard is in place they will always meet it. They are in an unique position and completely unrivalled with regard to standards of re-use and recycling. Taking full advantage of established RJS Worldwide customers and ever expanding world outlets in countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Iran, Iraq, Dubai, Senegal, Mombassa, Darasalam, Tangineer, Uganda, Conga, (Manheim), Germany, Holland, Poland, Russia and that is to mention but a few.

Their highly skilled and ever expanding workforce (64 by 2004 and growing) can handle all manner of tasks required to make GERCO not just the UK's most efficient re-distributor, recycler and in extreme circumstance destructor of unwanted domestic appliances but an unmatched hub for worldwide distribution of these goods thus constantly turning unwanted and often hazardous waste into useful and valuable products.