Luton businessman collects prestigious King’s Award in a skip

Joseph Holman has built a £2million business from doors he first discovered in a skip — and marked the achievement by receiving one of Britain’s highest honours in the very same setting.

The founder of Green Doors, based in Luton, was presented with the King’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development by Bedfordshire’s Lord Lieutenant, Mrs Susan Lousada, on April 29.

In a nod to the company’s origins, Mr Holman chose to collect the award while standing in a skip.

“I started 11 years ago with a set of doors I found in a skip, and now I’ve received an award from the King,” he said.

“Being in a skip to receive this award felt like the most honest way to tell that story.”

Green Doors rescues discarded and mis-measured doors and windows, giving them a second life rather than sending them to landfill.

The company saved more than 3,000 items from disposal last year, selling them to builders, homeowners and renovators from its 25,000 sq ft Bedfordshire warehouse.

It now generates around £2million annually and employs six staff, known as the “door doctors”.

Mr Holman said he is driven by concerns about the environmental damage caused by construction waste.

“Putting UPVC doors into landfill is a dreadful thing as they release horrible toxins into the atmosphere as they degrade,” he said.

“We want to make sure every door and window gets a second life, and we felt having this King’s Award would help us to do that.”

As part of the awards programme, he met King Charles III at Windsor Castle in June.

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“Everyone knows the King is very passionate about the environment and so it was great to tell him about the work we’ve been doing,” he said.

“We spoke for several minutes and he seemed very relaxed and comfortable talking with everyone.”

The visit, he added, was “quite surreal”, describing Windsor Castle as “a totally different world from our warehouse in Luton”.

The King’s Award for Enterprise is one of the UK’s most prestigious business honours, recognising excellence in exporting, innovation, social impact and sustainable development.

“You have to put your business under the microscope and prove all you’ve done,” he said

“But once we gained the award and I met the King it felt great, and it gave myself and the team a tremendous boost.”

To celebrate the achievement, Green Doors opened its warehouse for a public tour, showcasing what it described as an “adoorable” collection of reclaimed doors.

Among the standout pieces were high‑security doors recovered from the former US Embassy in London and historic doors dating back to the 14th century.