29 July 2025
With six years at the helm of Plan B Management Solutions, Maz Akhtar, Managing Director, and Craig Cutajar, Material Sales Director, look at key moments for the business and discusses future plans.
Back in 2019, Maz and Craig were both working for Kier, aware that the company was in the process of exiting the market, and looking for their next challenge. Meanwhile, Plan B Management Solutions had been set up in 2006 and the owner was now looking to sell.
“We liked the fact that the platform already existed,” says Maz, “It meant we could hit the ground running from day one. The business then had one employee and a couple of contractors,” he adds.
“With our experiences and background, and coupled with the business as it was, we felt there was a great opportunity to transform and diversify the business with other complimentary services. Maz and I have different strengths and weaknesses that support each other, and it was clear that we shared a strong vision for what we wanted to achieve, and more importantly, how we would want to do business in terms of culture and values,” says Craig.
Fast forward to 2025 and the rate of growth is impressive. Today, there are 151 employees working across three areas: Managed Services, Consultancy and Materials Marketing & Sales. And the business isn’t slowing down.
“In 2019, we agreed a five-year plan, which included a turnover target of £20m, which we met by 2024. We’re now working towards our 2030 plan, which includes growing the municipal side of our business,” Maz says.
Plan B Management Solutions started as a consultancy but, since Maz and Craig took over, the business has expanded into new areas and met some major milestones. These include becoming the waste services provider for Bridgend in Wales and investing in their own processing plant in Cardiff. Due to become operational by the end of the summer 2025, it is permitted to handle up to 75,000 tonnes of material annually. The business is also proud to have donated 70,000 items in the last 12 months to food banks local to the communities where it operates.
“We truly live our values with actions, and we have a strong and loyal team who are always willing to jump in and do whatever’s needed. There’s no room for egos,” he adds.
