Container king creates a stir

By Angela Prichard,

With a BBC documentary and articles about his business in the Daily Telegraph and Bloomberg News, Jake Slinn is making international news as well as impressive profits from unwanted or abandoned cargoes.

At his office in Epsilon House at Masterlord Office Village, he’s just wrapping up a radio interview with Naga Munchetty for BBC Radio 5 Live.  All in a day’s work for this busy container salvage entrepreneur, who turned over £500,000 in the last year and is aiming to double it in 2022.  It’s a journey of discovery for the 22-year-old.


“Sometimes I’m not totally sure what’s in a container, whatever it says on the manifest,” explains Jake. As the lock is cut off and the doors creak open to reveal the contents, it’s better than an episode of Storage Wars, as he already owns the contents.  What he does with it is up to his company, J S Global Cargo and Freight Disposal.

In year three with his business, the deals are bigger as the reputation of Jake Slinn’s company grows and his ability to sell, recycle or destroy unwanted cargoes improves through his experience and an enviable contact book.

Some cargoes have to be destroyed, like 25 tonnes of lamb from Australia (refrigeration failed) or 52 containers of baled tyres returned from India. He’s currently handling everything from new clothing to plasterboard, and there are even samples of natural husk on his desk for testing.

The buzz of doing deals is what drives Jake: “I love doing deals every day, so everyone’s happy, the job’s done professionally and people are paid.”  Working with his brother Jez, getting advice from his recycling expert father and his mum doing accounts, it’s a family business.

“It’s all about relationships,” says Jake. “Work is coming to us now, as we’re better known and operate across the UK. Being close to Felixstowe Port is an advantage, too.”

He’s also sharing his passion and determination by talking to young people at Suffolk One, which he attended for a time after a difficult time at school.  A BBC documentary, We Are England: Bossing It, The Container King, showed Jake explaining to students how success comes in many forms and to never give up.

Who knows what lies ahead for this high-energy business as international trade recovers. Creating a profit out of unwanted freight needs dedication and skill, an eye for opportunities, and a reputation for getting the job done.

A talent for innovation and creativity

By Angela Prichard,

When the Houses of Parliament were suddenly aglow with a huge projected tribute to our NHS workers in 2020, it was the idea of Stuart Harris and his creative projection company Motion Mapping. He calls it ‘guerilla projection’: turn up with a van and generator, project a huge image on an iconic building, then disappear into the night! 

He did the same at Ipswich Hospital in 2020, with social media spreading the message virally (no irony) worldwide.  So successful was that charitable projection, it won national press coverage and an appearance on BBC’s The One Show.  Stuart gave the graphics to other events projection companies to use free of charge at other hospitals. With all events cancelled and no business, it gave them a mission to spread appreciation of healthcare professionals. 

Based at Ipswich’s Masterlord Office Village, his company works with industry leaders from Warner Bros Tours at Leavesden Studios to Lancôme, English Heritage to Lamborghini, Colchester Castle to Nestlé’s Extreme ice-cream, Sony to Apple.  It’s a huge market for Stuart’s creativity and technical know-how, working collaboratively with clients to create unique experiences.  

For Nestlé’s new ice-cream brand, Extreme, his team used their ‘guerilla’ experience at 4 locations across London, using Motion Mappings’ powerful 30,000 and 15,000 lumen Epson projectors. For Warner Bros, he’s bringing the huge Hogwarts Castle model to life with a projected fireworks display: you’ll have to take the tour to see it!

‘I love to see people’s reaction to a projection, especially in an unexpected location,’ says Stuart.

One of those unexpected locations is iconic Stonehenge, where English Heritage called in Motion Mapping to project images on the 5,000-year-old stones when star DJ Paul Oakenfold became the first artist to perform there live.

Motion Mapping started small by projecting images on wedding cakes, created by Stuart’s wife Angie, named as one of the Top 50 cake designers in the UK.  Stuart turns her creative cakes interactive as guests gather round, enthralled. 

The business has grown in size and ambition, not only with interactive and immersive video projection mapping for buildings and events, but by creating original content, such as a new interactive table for a retail innovation with Hotter Shoes.

With offices, a demonstration room and technical area on Gamma Terrace at Masterlord Office Village, location was key when Stuart was looking for a base : ‘There are great transport links and a strong business community here.  We’re travelling everywhere, being so close to the A12 is a real bonus.’ 

For more information:  motionmapping.co.uk or follow what’s new on social media