Skips Dumped on Driveways as Hirer Goes Bust
Around 100 skips have been left on property driveways in Leicestershire because the provider is now in liquidation.
The owner of the business has apologised but said “his hands are tied” as he no longer has control over the firm. The business, 1st Choice Skip and Grab Hire, was based in Enderby, a village outside Leicester.
Customers claimed the business appeared to “disappear” leaving full skips uncollected and there being no way of reaching the company by phone or email. A number of customers are also infuriated as they want their driveways cleared for car parking and they have also engaged builders based on having items removed.
Contractors Impacted by Failed Business
One builder, Martin Disney, commented he had concerns when he tried to arrange a skip collection for an elderly customer. He explained he had been working on her home, but on completion, it was impossible to have the skip taken away.
“There’s a full skip left on an 89-year-old woman’s drive but everywhere says they’re permanently closed.” He added he would not be paid until the skip had been removed.
Disney also visited the company’s Enderby office, where he claimed the landlord had been left with “£80,000 worth of rubbish to get rid of”.
According to a Google profile, 1st Choice Skip and Grab Hire Ltd is permanently closed, the website no longer exists and the phone number is also disconnected.
A local paper, the Leicester Mercury, has tracked down the owner who said they did not want to be named and they could not help customers because of the unexpected liquidation.
The owner claimed that an affiliated business had failed and this left him without payments – this led to the collapse of the skip hire business.
Assets Removed From Offices
He also said that because computers had been removed that had details of the skips’ locations – along with other assets – it was not possible to recover them. But, he added there were plans to do this in the coming weeks: “ “I couldn’t collect the skips until liquidators gave me permission to. Now it’s just me and one other person trying to collect around 100 skips that we’re finding out about from Facebook messages and calls. I didn’t plan for this. Nobody is more gutted and hurt than me. We haven’t abandoned anybody, we’re coming round to collect them, we’re just a couple of days behind.”
