ABOUT US

In 2012, Mark Stubbs was running a successful contracting company specialising in land drainage when Kelly Bryant started as his administrator. Mark introduced Kelly to working with water, creating balancing ponds, dredging rivers, creating wetlands and wildlife habitat. It was during this time the pair developed a long-standing relationship with the wildlife trust, further instilling in them the importance of protecting the environment, a value that has remained at the core of their business ever since. Before this, Mark gained considerable experience working on pipelines in the UK, Russia and Southeast Asia. It was here Mark began to appreciate the work that could be achieved using natural resources and teamwork. When the pipeline days came to an end, Mark returned to the UK and began his groundworks contracting company. Marks determination and passion are evidenced not only by the successful businesses he runs, but also by the odds he overcame to build them. Having suffered a near fatal accident, Mark spent eleven months in hospital and was told he would never work again. Marks commitment, unwavering work ethic and conviction drove Mark to not only return to a working career but to excel in it, surpassing all expectations. By the time Kelly joined, Mark was already harbouring ideas about introducing water treatment systems into his hire fleet. Kelly having also faced adversity, experiencing homelessness in her teenage years, was keen to prove her value. Crediting herself with resilience and compassion, she endeavoured to assist Mark in exploring new opportunities. It was when a customer asked Mark if he was interested in buying a cylindrical water storage tank that things began to move forward. Mark accepted the tank, hoping that once refurbished it could be hired out. During the process of refurbishment Mark and Kelly began discussions about developing a water treatment system for use on construction sites. Their first ideas were to create a basic settlement tank and eventually, with some help, Kelly drew up a plan. Over the next year Mark and Kelly built more tanks, all the while learning more about water treatment, onsite requirements, and the drawbacks of systems already on the market. They came to understand that sites wanted systems that were simple to set up, simple to use and simple to empty. With this in mind, the pair designed the ‘WTS’, a settlement tank that includes a cage to housing flocculant blocks to enable simple flocculation, an adjustable oil skimmer, a compartment for lamella/coalescing media to optimise settlement and a hopper bottom and dump valve to easily remove settled solids. Next, the pair introduced the ‘Sack Frame’ to house sacks that would further filter waste water and retain suspended solids, unfortunately they found existing sacks were essentially builders sacks with a felt liner sewn that quickly became blocked and ineffective. Rather than give up on the premise, the pair sourced a liner and created the ‘Adsorption Sack’, a sack specifically designed to enable solids to attach to the surface of the liner, eventually becoming heavy enough to drop into the sack leaving the liner clear to continue filtering. Interest for the systems quickly grew and in 2013 they were asked to commission systems for J Murphy & Sons and JN Bentley. At this point Mark decided to separate the growing water treatment fleet from his contracting company and set up a new company. The company was to be named Kelly Tanks and Kelly was invited to become a director. It wasn’t long before the pair realised the Adsorption sack could be used for many purposes, one of which being the retention and filtration of cementitious particles in concrete wash water. After much development, Kelly drew up plans and the CWS Concrete Washout was born. A cost-effective alternative to skips & suction wagons, the CWS is a ‘plug & go’ system that allows concrete equipment and wagons to be safely washed-off onsite by separating the solids, recycling the water and neutralising the pH. Demand for Kelly Tanks innovative and user-friendly systems grew and soon the brand was receiving recognition. Kelly became a 50% shareholder in 2017 and the pair continued to add products and systems to their fleet. Mark and Kelly went onto design pH treatment systems that would proportionally dose using a pH reducing liquid. They also discovered existing methods for reducing pH levels were wasteful in their overuse of C02 and so designed systems that would only dose the required amount. This method can be found in their GWS and HpC system, designed to retain the solids and neutralise the pH of the water captured in Hydro demolition, and again in their Modular pH dosing systems. Whilst their fleet has grown, so have their facilities and team (teamKT). Now, almost ten years later, Kelly Tanks has become an industry leader in concrete washouts, boasting the UK’s largest hire fleet whilst continuing to supply water treatment systems worldwide. Mark and Kelly consistently release new products each year and their innovative product range is complemented by their ongoing commitment to excellent quality and customer service.