Forth Skips win big at Falkirk Herald Business Excellence Awards

A host of winners were celebrating success at The Falkirk Herald Business Excellence Awards 2019.
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Held last Thursday evening in the Macdonald Inchyra Hotel & Spa in Polmont, the event recognised the achievements made by businesses, big and small, in the last 12 months.

Hosted by radio presenter Ewen Cameron, the evening saw Forth Skip Repair and Refurbishers collect the ultimate accolade – Outstanding Achievement of the Year, having earlier won the New Business of the Year.

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A family run business, it offers a skip repair and refurbishing service based at Grangemouth’s Abbotsinch Industrial Estate.

Owner Carole Hamilton said: “Our research told us, as well as conversations with various businesses, that there was a demand for this service – so not just making the skips look a bit better but repairing them as well.

“We take a pride in our work, making sure the skips and boxes are given a full MOT, fixed to a high standard, removing of all the corrosion, replacing damaged areas of the skip and repainting them in 
the colours of our clients’ choice.”

She added that this saves clients money by increasing the longevity of the skips and decreases the environmental impact of discarding old skips.

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The business now employs five time served welders/sheet metal workers, two apprentices, a labourer and an admin 
assistant.

Its clients include some of the Scotland’s largest waste management companies.

Customers approached the firm about manufacturing skips as the only suppliers were in England, which incurred heavy transportation costs and a limited number of skips being delivered at any one time.

Forth Skips expanded into a neighbouring unit, invested £50,000 to purchase more equipment and since last October have produced 300 new skips – with orders increasingall the time.

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Carol added: We’ve also built bespoke skips for various clients – an idea from them, a discussion on requirements and our CAD engineer brings them to life.

“Our market knowledge and client base has been built up mainly from cold calling, doing our homework and also some introductions and networking through other companies and acquaintances.

“We are delighted to win this award and really excited about the future.”