In the heart of Bolton lies one of the biggest car breakers in the country which has made serious money out of exporting used car parts to countries as far wide as Nigeria and Poland.
Launched in 1990 by husband and wife duo Terry and Lyndsay Walker, Metro Salvage on Waterloo Street has grown from a small yard to a massive multi-million pound empire. For Terry, a self-proclaimed ‘wheeler dealer from birth’, it’s something he feels he was always destined to do.
“I’ve been wheeling and dealing since school,” Terry, 57, tells the M.E.N. “At the beginning, I was buying and selling motorbikes and push bikes at the back of my grandma’s house.
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“I remember being 16 or 17 and my driving instructor came round one day to take me for my lessons and he asked about the bikes. I ended up selling him one. From then on, every time he picked me up, the deal was he’d paid me £25 and I didn’t pay for my lesson.
“When I finished, I managed to get free lessons for Lyndsey in exchange for the bikes too.” Terry and Lyndsay, 57, met at an open day at Sharples High School in Astley Bridge at the age of 13. They married when they were both 19 and have been inseparable ever since and recently celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary.
They are behind the day-to-day running of the business, now affectionately know as The Scrappers, with Terry on the ground making deals and helping out their team of 35 while Lyndsay runs the admin and upkeep of the yard.
Terry left school at the age of 14 to work with his brother in their dad's scrap yard, but he says it wasn’t a pleasurable experience. “Me and my brother did really well at it but we never got any thanks for it,” he explains.
“After we got married, I decided that I couldn’t really work like that anymore and that’s really what started the business that stands today. We had a little yard on Church Street in Radcliffe where we’d repair, break and spray cars.
“We’d just do loads of little things to make one bigger thing really. It did really well, I was underneath the cars and then I’d go back to my welding.”
The success of the Radcliffe yard meant that it was time to expand - and it was Lyndsay who came across their current Waterloo Street location.
“It became apparent that the yard was too small for what we wanted to do so we needed something bigger,” Terry said. “Lyndsay found the yard which we’re at now which is ironically the same yard I used to go to weigh in metal when I first started off.
“I never expected to own a yard this big so soon, I must have been about 25 or 26 at the time. We had no money when we moved in, we spent every last penny to buy it but it worked out for us. We recruited good lads and did well for ourselves.”
Two of Terry and Lyndsay’s own children are amongst the scrapyard’s recruits too. Eldest daughter Jemma, 37, works alongside Lyndsay in the office in accounts, while Jon, 31, works on the yard.
“Working together as a family you do sometimes have your ups and downs,” Terry explains, “but we’re all used to each other and how we all work. If we ever have an argument one day, we’ll be over it the next. We don’t hang onto any gripes or anything like that.”
The Scrappers yard is now at the forefront of a new docuseries on Quest called Scrapyard Dynasty. The show follows Terry and his team as they smash up old bangers for scrap and flog off the parts.
The idea for the show came about after Terry and the team started sharing quirky videos online replicating popular trends. After their videos received millions of views, television bosses in London reached out to Terry and Lyndsay about a possible show revolving around their business.
Terry hopes the show will educate people on the industry and how it can help young people gain valuable skills. “I don’t think there’s a greener industry than ours, really,” he explains.
“Everything gets recycled, even the oil and the tires. With the rules and regulations from the Environmental Agency, we’ve had to think about how to get more out of every vehicle that comes into the yard to make sure it’s worth our while.
“I hope people will understand more of what we do and how we do it, and I do think people will find it educational too. I hope people will learn something from the show.”
The series, which also airs on Discovery+, also shows how the yard has adapted to recent times and how Terry has managed to build a strong network of export partners across the globe, along with a growing online trade.
“Going online just felt like the natural next step,” Terry explains. “When the pandemic struck, we were able to stay open because we were classed as key workers but I started to realise I was dealing with a lot of customers on WhatsApp or over the phone.
“We went for a trip to Spain to see what it was like dealing internationally, and it’s worked out for us. It’s what I’ve always wanted as a child, really. I like working with all walks of life, it’s never phased me to work with people overseas. I tend to have three conversations going on all at one time from people in Poland, Italy and what not, but it’s great.”
The show also looks at the future of the scrapyard as Terry and Lyndsay consider whether they will ever have a quieter life away from the wheeling and dealing. With Jon and Jemma making waves in the business, it makes logical sense to hand the yard over to them, but Terry says he will only do it when it feels right.
“Back when I first started off, the culture was that you’d make do and mend and that’s sort of changed now so it’s starting to make me feel a bit old-fashioned,” Terry says. “I’ve got no qualms whatsoever about handing over the reins to Jon and Jemma but it’s just that I need to see they’re ready for it - you can’t buy experience.
“For me, it’s just a question of when they’re ready to take it on and it’s just not the time yet.”
Asked whether he’ll ever fully step away from the business, Terry says he thinks he’ll always be involved in the yard in some way. “I don’t think I’ll ever fully retire but I would like to be able to do something to help others and give back to help people,” he explains.
“My strapline has always been ‘can I help you mate’, and that’s what I would like to do more of within the community. I’m just not sure what that entails right now.”
Speaking about the job itself, Terry and Lyndsay say the best thing about the yard is how every day is different. “In the 32 years we’ve been here, no two days have ever been the same,” Terry says. “And that’s what I love about the job, really.
“Nothing beats coming into work in the morning with empty pockets and leaving with a couple of grand. The buzz of the deal makes it all worthwhile.”
Scrapyard Dynasty airs weekly on Tuesdays at 9pm on Quest. You can catch up with episode one and stream the series on Discovery+.
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