The White Horse is popular pub and eatery located in Bedford. With a steady stream of regulars and ad-hoc customers that come from far and wide to visit the smart, stylishly furnished venue, the White Horse is a highly successful business that has become a hub for the local community.

The team that run the White Horse have always cared about the environment and recycling, but also recognise the importance of a reliable service and cost-effective pricing. When it came to choosing a waste management partner Cawleys were a natural fit.

The team at the white horse liked that Cawleys were a local family-run business and that it had a sustainability focus that could maximise its recycling rates and save costs. The rep from Cawleys also helped the White Horse save on disposal costs by helping switch several elements of its general waste collection to recycling. This is particularly important for pubs and restaurants that produce a large volume of glass waste.

Glass is one of the easiest materials to recycle and organising a separate cheaper collection (for glass only) saves including glass with general waste, which can push costs up due to its density and weight.

Customer service and reliability were another reason that the team at the White Horse chose Cawleys. It had heard about Cawleys’ reputation for outstanding customer service and once the partnership was established, the White Horse team could easily see why the Cawleys team had received so much praise for its approach. Never was this as welcome as when coronavirus arrived!

An extremely difficult time for all, Covid-19 and the resulting lockdown, was an extremely worrying time for everybody. As well as devastating repercussions on health, there was also an immense impact on business. Small businesses such as the White Horse rely on people getting together and socialising (things that during the coronavirus outbreak were deemed risky) and, as such, this type of business was among the hardest hit.

During the lockdown the White Horse closed its doors in adherence with government instruction and had little choice other than to cease trading. The priority for the team at this time was to protect the business and naturally this meant cutting costs. One such area was in waste collection. With no customers, there was no waste, and no bins to empty but the White Horse had a scheduled agreement with Cawleys and believed that they were obliged to pay.

Knowing how friendly and helpful the customer services and retention teams at Cawleys are, Steve decided to give the waste company a call to discuss the situation. The team at Cawleys immediately sympathised with the pub and agreed to take a flexible approach in a bid to help them weather the storm. As such Cawleys offered to temporarily suspend the White Horse’s contract and all of its collections from 26th March with no payment due for this period.

The team at the White Horse were extremely pleased and thankful for the kindness and flexibility shown by the Cawleys team.

Fortunately, now that lockdown has been lifted, the pub has been able to reopen, welcome back its customers and recommence its waste collection service.

Lucie from The White Horse, commented: “I truly believe that working with a local independent family run business is worth its weight in gold when it comes to waste management. There is a personal touch that is often missing with larger national operators. During the pandemic Cawleys have been extremely helpful and supportive and we look forward to working with them well into the future”.

If you'd like to know how Cawleys can help your pub or restaurant recycle more and save money, get in touch today.