Anyone here in waste (skips)?
Discussion
Hi everyone,
Near me there is a skip company that has come up for sale. I don't have a background in waste but we use grab lorries and sweepers at work and I've been wanting to get into that game for a while.
Anyway, this company has come up, it comes with a leased yard (short lease that I would look to renew when doing the transfer) skips, lorry and van and presumably some contracts as they collect business waste in the nearby town.
In the future I would look to expand the business into grabs and possibly sweepers but it definitely looks like a scaleable business.
Any advice from anyone?
How easy/difficult is it to get your waste handling licence and your operators licence for the lorry?
Is it an industry worth getting into?
Many thanks
Edit: title is fairly obviously meant to say 'Anyone here in waste (skips)?
Near me there is a skip company that has come up for sale. I don't have a background in waste but we use grab lorries and sweepers at work and I've been wanting to get into that game for a while.
Anyway, this company has come up, it comes with a leased yard (short lease that I would look to renew when doing the transfer) skips, lorry and van and presumably some contracts as they collect business waste in the nearby town.
In the future I would look to expand the business into grabs and possibly sweepers but it definitely looks like a scaleable business.
Any advice from anyone?
How easy/difficult is it to get your waste handling licence and your operators licence for the lorry?
Is it an industry worth getting into?
Many thanks
Edit: title is fairly obviously meant to say 'Anyone here in waste (skips)?
Edited by BigGingerBob on Friday 16th January 11:21
BigGingerBob said:
Hi everyone,
Near me there is a skip company that has come up for sale. I don't have a background in waste but we use grab lorries and sweepers at work and I've been wanting to get into that game for a while.
Anyway, this company has come up, it comes with a leased yard (short lease that I would look to renew when doing the transfer) skips, lorry and van and presumably some contracts as they collect business waste in the nearby town.
In the future I would look to expand the business into grabs and possibly sweepers but it definitely looks like a scaleable business.
Any advice from anyone?
How easy/difficult is it to get your waste handling licence and your operators licence for the lorry?
Is it an industry worth getting into?
Many thanks
I can't offer any answers to your questions but as someone who has done house renovation on and off over the last 14 years I've had plenty of skips (Milton Keynes / Northampton area) and would offer a few observations from the customer perspective:Near me there is a skip company that has come up for sale. I don't have a background in waste but we use grab lorries and sweepers at work and I've been wanting to get into that game for a while.
Anyway, this company has come up, it comes with a leased yard (short lease that I would look to renew when doing the transfer) skips, lorry and van and presumably some contracts as they collect business waste in the nearby town.
In the future I would look to expand the business into grabs and possibly sweepers but it definitely looks like a scaleable business.
Any advice from anyone?
How easy/difficult is it to get your waste handling licence and your operators licence for the lorry?
Is it an industry worth getting into?
Many thanks
1. The price for a typical 8 yard skip has (unsurprisingly) got increasingly more expensive over the years. Initially I could get a skip for under £200. Now I'm being quoted as much as £450. I've got one on the drive at the moment which was £320 after some shopping around.
2. My gut feel is that there are still quite a few non legit / "will give you a price for cash" operations where you don't question where the waste goes once they take it away. This might make it harder to compete.
3. The list of items you can't put in the skip gets longer every time I have one. Mattresses was the newest one that was added to the usual "no plasterboard, roofing felt, carpet, cushions, furniture yadda yadda". Seems to me like it's getting harder and harder for the skip companies to get rid of the waste they have collected (and no doubt related to points 1 and 2 above).
4. The skip company I've always used has been sold off and when I talked to the chap on the phone he sounded relieved to not be dealing with skips as part of the business any more.
BigGingerBob said:
Hi everyone,
Near me there is a skip company that has come up for sale. I don't have a background in waste but we use grab lorries and sweepers at work and I've been wanting to get into that game for a while.
Anyway, this company has come up, it comes with a leased yard (short lease that I would look to renew when doing the transfer) skips, lorry and van and presumably some contracts as they collect business waste in the nearby town.
In the future I would look to expand the business into grabs and possibly sweepers but it definitely looks like a scaleable business.
Any advice from anyone?
How easy/difficult is it to get your waste handling licence and your operators licence for the lorry?
Is it an industry worth getting into?
Many thanks
Edit: title is fairly obviously meant to say 'Anyone here in waste (skips)?
Waste handling licence is easy enough just admin. The operators licence is a big commitment financially. You will need a TM as well. Not really something you can just try your hand at to test the waters.Near me there is a skip company that has come up for sale. I don't have a background in waste but we use grab lorries and sweepers at work and I've been wanting to get into that game for a while.
Anyway, this company has come up, it comes with a leased yard (short lease that I would look to renew when doing the transfer) skips, lorry and van and presumably some contracts as they collect business waste in the nearby town.
In the future I would look to expand the business into grabs and possibly sweepers but it definitely looks like a scaleable business.
Any advice from anyone?
How easy/difficult is it to get your waste handling licence and your operators licence for the lorry?
Is it an industry worth getting into?
Many thanks
Edit: title is fairly obviously meant to say 'Anyone here in waste (skips)?
Edited by BigGingerBob on Friday 16th January 11:21
Do you know how you will process the waste? Collecting skips full of mixed waste can mean a lot of sorting and processing. Do you have the knowledge to offload it further down the food chain? I would say this will be your biggest challenge. If you don't get this right you will be stuck with a yard full of waste no-one else wants to touch.
A lot of people are switching to grabs rather than skips. Not exactly sure why, maybe cost? Another point to consider is councils hate these type of businesses. Make sure the lease is long and all above board for this type of business.
Its definately a scalable business but tougher and tougher for the smaller business. The margains will get eaten away by more and more costs imposed on you if running legal. You should try and get the current owner to stay on in some capacity for as long as possible for support.
Maybe don't run before you can walk but with grabs you can support other companies with transport work, Aggreates, asphalt etc. You have more earning options but thats comes at a bigger intital expense.
Keep us updated, its a business always in need and AI isn't going to destroy it within the next 10 years.
Edited by EastMidsEng on Friday 16th January 13:26
Edited by EastMidsEng on Friday 16th January 13:31
Grab wagons are much cheaper than skips these days in my experience, and no faffing around waiting for the skip to be collected one day.
OP - if you go for it and want some contract work I have a friend who owns a large waste brokerage and they sub out all of their contracts so I'd happily put you in touch with them if that helps in the future.
OP - if you go for it and want some contract work I have a friend who owns a large waste brokerage and they sub out all of their contracts so I'd happily put you in touch with them if that helps in the future.
Thank you everyone, I will always be amazed at how helpful people are on this site.
The daughter of the owner and founder works in the office and practically runs it so she will help with all the admin. I'm planning on chatting to the owner and it helps that my Dad has dealt with the company for 40 years for the cardboard from his shop.
I'll do some more digging into the business and I still need to fully convince my wife that it's a business we should get into.
I'm definitely up for grab lorries but I will need the lorry, yard, license and all sorts which would likely be sorted with this business. Not very well worded but I hope it makes sense.
The daughter of the owner and founder works in the office and practically runs it so she will help with all the admin. I'm planning on chatting to the owner and it helps that my Dad has dealt with the company for 40 years for the cardboard from his shop.
I'll do some more digging into the business and I still need to fully convince my wife that it's a business we should get into.
I'm definitely up for grab lorries but I will need the lorry, yard, license and all sorts which would likely be sorted with this business. Not very well worded but I hope it makes sense.
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