Harpur Hill metal salvage and recycling firm to star in Quest reality television series Scrap Kings
A family-owned metal recycling business in Harpur Hill will be in the television spotlight next week after its staff were filmed for the documentary series Scrap Kings.
Tin Man Scrap is expected to feature in four episodes of the series, with the first due to air on the channel Quest on Tuesday, May 18 at 9pm, as well as streaming service Discovery+.
The company’s leading man is boss Mark Drabble, 39, and the cameras follow his team around as they go about their days salvaging and breaking up scrap for sale.
Melissa Downhill, Mark’s business partner and wife, said: “We got a call from a researcher and they came to film us last October, but it went so well we agreed to be regulars and they’ve been back every couple of weeks since.
“The lads in the yard were a bit nervous with the cameras coming in, but within half an hour they were having good fun with it.”
Tin Man has built a fairly unique reputation around Buxton over the past 12 years. As the only local member of the British Metal Recycling Association, it handles everything from brass ornaments to redundant machinery and extensive site clearances.
Typically, the firm would contact the programme-makers whenever they had a big job coming up, so there are some fairly unusual stories to follow – especially against the background of the pandemic.
Melissa, 39, said: “We’ve had a lot of interesting work throughout the year, mainly machinery but the most extraordinary job was probably a fairground ride.
"You don’t usually see them scrapped, so it was really special and we had a good time with it and manged to sell a lot of parts to be repurposed.”
She added: “It goes into how we do all the recycling, where everything goes and who buys it.
It is not the family’s first encounter with small screen fame. Melissa has previously appeared on Flipping Profit and Storage Hunters UK and recently wrapped filming for the third series of The Bidding Room for BBC One.
Essentially a Dragons’ Den for antiques, it sees customers bring their items for valuation before pitch their items for sale to dealers, including Melissa.