London-Irish business dynamo O’Donovan is selling his family’s British waste company to a Swedish giant

Businesswoman Jacqueline O’Donovan, managing director of London-based O’Donovan Waste Disposal and a keen supporter of the Irish community there, has sold the company to Sortera, a Swedish company that aims to become one of Europe’s leading recyclers of construction waste.

The sale price has not been disclosed but it had sales of £17.8million and profit of £1.9million last year.

O’Donovan and her three siblings grew the business to over 100 employees and the same number of trucks and various other vehicles after the death of their father Joe, who was from Goleen, Co Cork, in 1985.

She has been Executive Secretary since she was 19 and over the past 37 years has received various business awards and a Distinguished Service Award for her philanthropy and support of the Irish community from President Michael D. Higgins.

O’Donovan is an advocate for training, works and road safety for trucks and also supports the British Irish Trading Alliance business network as a patron.

UK company documents show that O’Donovan now plans to invest part of the proceeds from the sale in property there.