Meet the team
Board
Adrian Dodds
Director / Shareholder
board director and a shareholder with Sackers. He has 43 years’ experience in the industry and has overseen the growth through land purchasing and new plant implementation.
Adrian oversaw and planned operational projects within the company.
Adrian is a director and board member for the British Metals Recycling association and has held this position for over 15 years. The board are tasked with guiding the industry by tackling difficult legislation and regulations. He was president of the Southern Metals Association before that.
Adrian’s main roles and responsibilities at Sackers where:
1. Director team leader responsible for all operational functions, processing plant and sites.
2. Director team leader responsible for mechanical and parchment.
3. Director team leader responsible for transport and haulage.
4. Working as a board member.
Adrian is a born and bred Ipswich man and is married to Rosy and has 2 children William and Polly.
David Dodds
CEO and Shareholder
experience in the metal recycling sector, with an emphasis on Ferrous and Non-Ferrous metals trading and processing.
He has represented the Non-Ferrous industry on the national board of the British Metal Recycling Association for five years, where he was involved in shaping the industry and to help develop the legislation the industry relies on.
David represents Sackers whilst traveling extensively throughout India, Pakistan, China, Africa and South East Asia developing a vast network of consumers for Sackers scrap products
David’s main roles and responsibilities at Sackers are:
• Team leader of the procurement team for ferrous and non-ferrous raw materials
• Responsible for sales of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metals in the EU and rest of the world
• Responsible for the development of new business in emerging markets / consumers
• Overseeing the shipping department function
• Part of the team responsible for planning the timely dispatch and fulfilment of our contracts
Ewan Dodds BSc FRICS
Director and Shareholder
wealth of external experience in other sectors that helps to ensure Sackers is developing best practice.
Ewan is CEO of Whybrow Chartered Surveyors and Property Consultants, where he specialises in commercial and residential property disposals and acquisitions, development and investments and runs and chairs the Board. He also has significant experience in helping businesses improve their performance and providing strategic consultancy services.
Ewan is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Additionally, Ewan is a member of the Ipswich East Rotary Club, a past President of the Colchester Chamber of Commerce and of the County Board, Colchester 2020 (Local Strategic Partnership) until 2013, Colchester Business Group and developed the proposal for the first Colchester Business Improvement District bid.
Ewan’s main roles and responsibilities at Sackers are:
• Provide guidance on the strategic direction of the business
• Monitors and challenges the performance of the business and senior management team
• Challenges and supports the Executive Directors in their day to day management of the business
• Helps assess risk management within the business
Nigel Canham
Chief Financial Officer
businesses, most notably at Danaher, the $22 billion revenue NYSE listed global science and technology innovator, and Permira, the global investment firm. He has been instrumental in helping to position the business for long term growth.
From 2002 to 2014, Nigel held senior leadership positions within Danaher, where he was Finance Director of the Emerging Markets group at Fluke, driving growth and increasing profitability. Previous to that Nigel was Finance Director for Gilbarco, the manufacturer of fuel dispensers and fuelling solutions. From 2007 to 2009 Nigel was based in California as Global Finance Director for Kerr Corporation, Danaher’s leading dental business.
Nigel was CFO of Flowgroup plc from 2014 to 2019, where he helped drive strong growth and was instrumental in the exit and sale of the business on behalf of the investors.
He is a Fellow of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a Chartered Global Management Accountant.
Nigel’s main roles and responsibilities at Sackers are:
• Business partner to the team, providing insightful management information to help grow the business
• Enhance the performance of the business
• Cash management and formulation of strategy, budgets and forecasts
• Lead and develop the finance team covering payroll, credit control and supply chain
• Overseeing the HR, IT and Administrative functions of the company
• Liaising with the banks, shareholders and other stakeholders
Chris Gray
Chairman
up an Inter-European road transport company in 1969, Chris joined Contship in early 1977 as MD of Contship UK and was later appointed as Deputy Managing Director of Contship Containerlines.
Chris is a former managing director of the port of Felixstowe and chief executive of Hutchison ports UK and Hutchison Ports Bahamas and executive chairman of Noatum Ports and Maritime.
Chris remains as a strategic advisor to Turia port management investments (holdings) CV, a company owned by JP Morgan infrastructure.
In 2017 Chris was appointed as a Director of Tex Holdings plc and was appointed as their Chairman in June 2018 and he was also appointed as Senior Independent Director of red funnel ltd and red funnel holdings ltd.
Chris is a former chairman of the UK Major Ports Group and Board Member of the Harwich Haven Authority.
Chris is married to Eunice, they have three children and live in Suffolk.
Senior Leadership Team
Helen Crapnell
HR and Comms Manager
Diploma in marketing. Her experience has been in the education, legal, tourism, but namely environment and recycling sector.
Helen joined Sackers in 2018 with a blank canvas to work on and built up the marketing department platforms both digitally and offline.
Helen’s work has been recognised by winning a national award for Best Digital Presence in the legal sector in 2016 and in 2020 for an App which won Innovation and Technology award by the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA).
Helen is a board member of Suffolk Business Women, a part of the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, championing women in business. She is also a mental health first aider for Sackers.
As the business has grown, the need for HR became apparent in the business she was asked to step in and take on the challenge. HR is PR after all! It was a steep learning curve learning HR principles and also through challenges of covid.
In her spare time and to de-stress, she enjoys gardening, running, DIY and time with her family.
Vic Kemp
Operations Manager (Claydon)
claydon yard as an Electric Crane driver feeding our Shear, after only a year or so he was promoted to yard foreman to allow owners David and Adrian Dodds to focus on growing sales and visiting customers.
He was then moved to the Weighbridge and became Weighbridge Manager and stayed in that role for a further 15 years. He has seen the business through many changes and has gained a variety of experience in all parts of the business which has seen him gain a lot of respect from the develop skills which has allowed him to move into an Operations role.
As an essential member of the team he has been a key holder for 22 years, a First Aider for 22 years and a fire Marshall for 18 years. He is also Mental Health First Aider and Culture Club Leader.
He bases his business philosophy on hard work, loyalty, respect and always wanting to improve in whatever he does.
His interests outside work are my family and a lifetime love of Rock Music watching live music when and wherever he can.
Stuart Spreadbridge
Operations Manager (Debtrac)
mainly in the trades sector working his way into managerial positions.
He joined Sackers for the first time in 2005 as a Transport Manager and progressed to Transport and Waste Manager when the waste operation only had 5 vehicles. He left in 2017 but returned after a 3 year spell in Health and Safety and Transport roles. He returned as Operations Manager, to a much larger Sackers; which by that point had a fleet of 16 vehicles and was also doing ali, cable and copper operations.
In a fast-paced environment, Stuart ensures operations run smoothly to meet daily, weekly and monthly targets alongside safe running of all operations where his IOSH Safety trained and competent in Asbestos Handling Level 1 & 2 comes in handy.
His philosophy in business is to always be honest and strive to achieve what the customer expects.
His spare time is spent with the Grandson watching him play football and Granddaughter who soon wants to play football!! He is also a season ticket holder at Ipswich Town where before the match with friends is often more entertaining than the match itself!! Long walks on a Sunday with the Wife and dog, Ruby, always making sure we’re back in time for Super Sunday!!
Kris Rose
Commercial Manager
the non-ferrous metal shed where he gained knowledge of different grades of metal and dealing with customers. He quickly progressed into different roles within the business over a ten year period and was promoted to Commercial Manager which he has been doing for the last 5 years.
Kris’ role is to purchase the scrap for the business, for both sites and ensure that the budgets and margins set are achieved each month. I also look after the sales in the UK. This role involves building long lasting relationships with existing and new suppliers and customers.
I believe honesty, reputation, hard work and trust are extremely important in business and live by that in my work every day.
In my spare time I play lots of football and if I’m not doing that, I spend time with family and friends.
Jo Ryland
Financial Controller
From 2013 to 2021, Jo held senior finance positions within Jeyes Ltd, the £140m turnover international business with multiple manufacturing sites across the world including the UK, USA & Czech Republic. At Jeyes, from 2013 to 2017, Jo was responsible for the international operational finance reporting and supported the business with the successful location move of the US manufacturing business, ultimately the sale of that business and also the sale of the Jeyes brands in the UK. In 2017 until 2021 Jo was promoted as Financial Controller with responsibility for the finance function for the remaining UK business following its private purchase.
She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
Jo’s main roles and responsibilities at Sackers are:
• Ownership of the monthly management accounts and to provide financial integrity across all finance processes and procedures
• Business partnering with the Senior Leadership Team and across the whole company, providing financial insight, quality advice, challenge, reporting and analysis
• Developing, mentoring, and guiding the finance team. Ensuring the team delivers accurate information to drive business growth
Her business philosophy includes great teamwork, to lead by example and to better yourself every day.
In her spare time Jo enjoys running, experimental cooking and spending time with her family and friends.
Ian Hammond
SHEQ Manager
contractors and visitors and ensure that Sackers fulfils our legal obligations to the HSE and the EA.
Since 2013 Ian has been directly employed in SHE Manager roles in the rail and chemical manufacturing industries. Before that time he was heavily involved in running Health and Safety in the military at various establishments. The majority of Ian’s working life saw him serving in the Army, based in the UK and Germany, where he also deployed to several of the world’s hot spots. Ian is extremely proud of achieving the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major and his time served in the military. During the last 10 years of his service Ian began his education in Health and Safety and now has a large portfolio of qualifications and over 20 years’ experience in the field. Ian values honesty and hard work in his personal and working life.
Ian lives in Stowmarket and is an eager golfer. He is also a member of the Suffolk Harley Davidson Riders Club and can be spotted regularly touring the countryside on his bike. Ian’s other passion is as a keen writer of poetry and he has written four books with the number five on the way.
Clare Lanchester
Shipping Manager
after finishing A Levels. She had a 2 year break from work entirely following the birth of her twins in 2016, returning to sackers in 2018.
Her whole career at Sackers has been spent in the shipping department where everything involved in the export process is handled in house, for example contracts, freight and haulage bookings, export documentation, documentary collections, letters of credit, trade finance facilities, credit control and compliance. She has gained and developed skills in all of these areas through experience and from working with some amazing people.
As export volumes have increased the shipping department has grown and is now a team of 3. Clare worked her way up from administrator to Manager and is proudly heads up the team. The team work hard to ensure they meet our customers requirements and provide them with an excellent shipping service. We also have longstanding, open and honest relationships with our hauliers, shipping lines and freight forwarders which we value highly.
Clare loves spending my spare time with my family and friends, playing badminton and baking a cake or two!
Alex Hall
Engineering Manager
tinkering with bikes and cars. Not long after he was offered an Apprenticeship at a local engineering firm that produced bronze alloy products.
His engineering career has given him 28 years’ experience in the metal industry but also in all aspects of engineering from welding, electrical, mechanical, heavy fabrications which saw him move into leading teams, problem solving, working on special projects and travelling all over Europe.
At Sackers, he leads a team of mechanical and electrical engineers, and coordinating workloads. He works on new and existing projects and is involved in new capex projects for efficiencies and improving production.
He enjoys engineering so much that he spends time drawing up plans on CAD for fun. Other than that he likes spending time with his family and walking his dog.
