European Textile Recycling Ltd

What European Textile Recycling Ltd does

European Textile Recycling Ltd is a United Kingdom private limited company that operates a consumer-facing textile buy-back service under the trading name 'we buy any clothes' (webuyanyclothes.org). Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Hednesford, Cannock (Staffordshire), the company purchases clean, reusable unwanted clothing, paired footwear, handbags, belts, accessories, bed sets, soft toys, and modern paired curtains from individual consumers, paying a flat £0.45 per kilogram in instant cash. The company is small (1-10 employees) and runs two physical storefronts — the Cannock HQ drop-off and a satellite location in Forsbrook/Stoke-On-Trent — with no mobile app, e-commerce channel, or disclosed digital marketing infrastructure.

The business model is straightforward: the company acts as a first-stage aggregator, purchasing low-value-per-kilogram textiles from a long tail of UK consumers and reselling the aggregated, sorted goods into secondary markets, both domestically and to countries described as 'less fortunate'. The per-kilogram pricing model, absence of minimum quantities, and instant cash payout at the point of drop-off are the principal customer-facing features. Operations appear to be entirely manual, with no disclosed technology platform, no proprietary sorting or grading systems, and no integration with logistics or resale-marketplace software.

The company's go-to-market is purely physical and localized to Staffordshire. Demand generation relies on storefront visibility and word-of-mouth rather than digital channels, social media presence, or paid marketing. There are no disclosed funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, or institutional investors, and no management team information is publicly available. The company appears to be privately held by founders or individual owners, operating as a small-scale, low-overhead commercial textile-recycling business.

Name

European Textile Recycling Ltd

Legal name

European Textile Recycling Ltd

Website

https://webuyanyclothes.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

European Textile Recycling Ltd, trading as 'we buy any clothes', is a UK private company that buys unwanted clothing, footwear, and home textiles from individual consumers at £0.45 per kilogram for resale to domestic and overseas secondary markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Textile Recycling Services

SIC

Wholesale-Apparel, Piece Goods & Notions (5130), Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600)

akta.pro primary industry

Textile & Apparel Recycling and Sorting (Non-E-waste) (BPALADAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Textile & Apparel Sorting/Recovery Facilities (EUAIADAJ), Donation, Resale & Textile Recycling Coordination (HSAFABAI)

Keywords

• Textile recycling services
• Clothing buy-back
• Used clothing resale
• Secondhand textiles
• Post-consumer textiles

Headquarters

HQ city

Chesterfield

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Clothing Purchase and Resale: The company purchases unwanted clothing, footwear, and accessories from consumers at a fixed per-kilogram rate (£0.45p/kg), then sorts and resells these items domestically and internationally to secondary markets and less fortunate countries.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

European Textile Recycling Ltd purchases clean, reusable unwanted clothing, paired footwear, handbags, accessories, belts, bed-sets, soft toys, and modern paired curtains from individual consumers at a fixed rate of £0.45 per kilogram, with instant cash payment. Items are aggregated, sorted, and exported to less-fortunate countries for reuse and material recovery. The service is delivered through two physical retail drop-off locations in Staffordshire, UK.

Product overview

European Textile Recycling Ltd operates a single unified product offering: a clothing and textile buy-back service trading as 'webuyanyclothes'. The company purchases unwanted, clean, and reusable items from the public, including clothing apparel, paired footwear, handbags, accessories, belts, bed sets, and modern paired curtains. Items are priced at £0.45p per kilogram (approximately £4.50 per full black bag of ~10kg). The company has two retail locations in Cannock (HQ) and Forsbrook/Stoke-On-Trent. After purchase, items are sorted and redistributed to countries less fortunate than the UK, extending the lifecycle of textiles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Clothing and Footwear Buy-Back Service Core buy-back service purchasing clean, reusable unwanted clothing and paired footwear from individuals at 45p per kilogram, with instant cash payment at the drop-off centre. Items are sorted and resold/exported to less-fortunate countries for reuse.
• Accessories and Handbags Purchase Purchase of handbags, purses, belts, hats, gloves, scarves, and paired socks from individuals at the standard 45p per kilogram rate, alongside the core clothing buy-back service.
• Home Textiles Purchase Purchase of home textiles — specifically modern paired curtains and bed sets (with matching pillow cases) — from individuals as part of the broader textile recycling service.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• British Heart Foundation Shops: National UK charity retail chain that accepts donated clothing and resells through high-street shops. Overlaps on the resale-and-reuse side of the value chain but relies on donations rather than cash buy-back.
• Salvation Army Trading Company: UK charity that collects used clothing via door-to-door pickups and high-street donation banks and routes items to sorting/reuse. Comparable as a large UK textile intake and reuse operator, but donation-led rather than cash-buy.
• Bank & Vogue Group: Global second-hand clothing and textile recycling company with sorting operations in Europe. Comparable as a downstream buyer of sorted used clothing; much larger and operates at an international scale.
• Oxfam GB: Large UK charity operating ~500 shops that resell donated clothing and home textiles. Comparable as a major collector and reseller of second-hand textiles in the UK, with much greater geographic reach.

Emerging players

• Thriftify: UK online thrift store for second-hand clothing donated by UK charities. Comparable as a digital-enabled reuse channel for used textiles, representing the emerging online model that may divert supply away from physical buy-back shops.
• WARP (Waste and Resources Action Programme): UK circular-economy NGO running textile reuse and recycling initiatives including the Love Your Clothes campaign. Comparable as a textile-reuse ecosystem participant influencing UK policy and consumer behaviour.

Direct peers

• Mary's Living & Giving: UK charity shop chain reselling donated clothing, accessories and home textiles. Comparable retail/resale proposition, though donation-led rather than cash purchase.
• Recycling Lives: UK social enterprise operating clothing banks, sorting facilities, and resale channels. Directly comparable as a regional UK textile collector and sorter, though larger in scale.
• Beyond Retro: UK-based vintage and second-hand clothing retailer that sources used apparel for curated resale. Comparable on the sortation/grading and resale side, though its model skews toward branded retail rather than charitable export.
• Traid: UK-based textile charity that collects, sorts and resells used clothing for reuse and recycling. Operates a near-identical intake/sort/export model to European Textile Recycling, making it the closest direct comparable in the UK market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/webuyanyclothes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about European Textile Recycling Ltd