History timeline
1890: William Granville Arrowsmith founds WJ Curley. ‘Curley’ was a nickname given to the young William by an old lady who supplied him with tea to fill the cans of workers at a local galvanising factory. Young William always “washed and looked so lovely and clean with his curls!”
1900s: WJ Curley specialises in the production of tallow made from animal by-products for use in the production of soap. A distinctive factory with a towering brick chimney is soon built in Marshgate Lane, near the River Lea in Stratford.
1939-1945: Company moves under government control during the Second World War, which also sees the factory destroyed by bombers.
1946: The company restarts, now with just four vehicles, collecting fat and bones from local butchers and meat retailers.
1950s-80s: The business grows, and buys its own rendering plant in nearby Essex.
1990: WJ Curley marks its centenary year as a continuous family-run business.
1990s: The company refocuses and specialises in the collection of waste oils used for the production of animal feeds and, following the BSE crisis and necessary changes in legislation.
2000s: Continuing the growth of its U.C.O exports, to many European countries, the business achieves status as a fully-rounded collector of waste products in and around London for the recycled production of a sustainable fuel source.
2006: Development of a bio-fuels production plant.
