Shore Recycling, the UK's leading recycler of electric and electronic scrap, has been sold to Viridor Waste Management, part of the Pennon Group, for £23m.

Shore was founded in 2002 by Perth-based entrepreneur Simon Howie, whose wholesale butcher business supplies leading supermarkets and some of Scotland's top restaurants.

Howie brought in Shore's two key executives Tom Liddell and Malcolm Todd to buy in part of the company in a £19m deal in 2004, though he remained executive director with a shareholding.

Two years ago, Shore upgraded its plant to one of the most modern in Europe, and last month it acquired a Lancashire-based company to almost double turnover to around £15m.

Howie revealed yesterday that an earlier deal to expand the group with venture capital support had collapsed last year.

"Doing a deal with a trade operator is doubly sweet for me as the VC deal which was on the table last year fell over due to them taking cold feet at the last minute, a bit like refusing to buy a Ferrari because it has a paint chip," he said. "They were extremely risk averse and showed little foresight or business acumen.

"Bravo to Viridor for taking the plunge."

Howie said the recent acquisition meant that the combined size of the operation coupled with the large geographical spread was very appealing to a large trade buyer such as Viridor.

The business was boosted by the Waste European Electrical and Electronics Directive in January 2007.

Operating sites in Perth, Manchester and St Helen's, Shore handles over 400,000 fridges per year, 300,000 televisions and monitors as well as 2000 tonnes of mixed electrical scrap, and has boasted 31 of the 32 Scottish local authorities as customers.

Howie added: "The increase in world prices for metals and plastics brought a highly competitive race to secure the contracts. It was a new era for the recycling industry and Shore entered the market at just the right time. I doubt if we will see change on a scale like this in the next few decades."