R Collard acquire Handy Skips

Waste-management firm expands its skip hire operations with acquisition of Handy

HAMPSHIRE-based R Collard have acquired Handy Skips, a long-established family run business based in Bracknell, Berkshire. The strategic acquisition will expand R Collard’s skip hire business portfolio and increase their geographical scope covering Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead, while protecting and creating jobs through investment in the local economy.  
 
It will bring the total number of skips managed by the Hampshire firm to 1,500 units ranging in size from four to 40 cubic yard capacity, supported by a 65-vehicle logistics operation coordinated from its customer contact centre in Eversley.

The recent acquisition forms part of a sustained investment programme being undertaken by R Collard. Earlier this year, two new eight-wheel tipper trucks (32-tonne capacity) were added to the fleet, while a new state-of-the-art washing plant has been commissioned at the company’s Eversley Quarry.

R Collard say they have long held the philosophy that investment in skips and skip lorries must be maintained in order to be able to service their core business of managing demolition waste. The acquisition of Handy Skips not only provides new plant and equipment, but also increases the geographical footprint of the business towards the London market, with access to a potential new client base.

‘I am delighted to be acquiring Handy Skips,’ said Robert Collard, managing director of R Collard Ltd. ‘It is part of our long-term strategy to be the major regional skip hire service for the M3/M4 corridor and this addition to our business gives us the expanded trading base we were looking for.’
 
Wastes generated by the company’s demolition and skip-hire divisions are processed at R Collard’s four materials recycling centres in Eversley, Aldershot, Bramshill and Farnham. Wastes are sorted into individual material streams for recycling with only hazardous items such as asbestos sent to landfill.