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Meet the newest member of our Axe Skip Hire fleet: our Scania S500, linked to a multi lift hook loader trailer. We have been waiting nearly a year for this set up to arrive and finally it has all come together. This is a new venture for us and will enable Axe Skips to do its own transport. It also gives us greater flexibility and a weight carrying capacity of 22t, compared to the standard eight wheeler hook loader trucks, as we shred our waste for recycling. More importantly - look how shiny it is and how pretty the colours are! We'll be driving this one with immense pride. Please wave if you spot us out and about.
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 Our manager Martin Williamson has been working for us for 25 years. To mark our 40th anniversay celebrations, he shares his memories of life at Axe Skips.
"I got the job at Axe Skips when I left school. My dad used to haul hardcore from the yard, saw that they were busy and asked if they needed some help and here I am 25 years later still working and driving the lorries! "The job was hard work back when I started we hand sorted everything, there was only two machines one of which i got stuck on a ramp it wasn't my best day and cost a few quid to repair, I remember telling John (the owner) what I had done, he wasn't happy as you would imagine! The machines were a work of art to use now there are new machines that make it a bit easier. "The business has got a lot bigger and the machines are a lot newer and so are the lorries. All the red tape makes it harder now compared to when I started. "When I was taken on, my first my job role was to hand sort waste for about three years then I was asked by John and Jane if would like to do lorry test I jumped at the chance now I've been driving for about 22 years now. It's nice meeting new people and going to new places. In the 25 years I've worked here James and Karen have given me lots of opportunities like doing Waste Management Industry Training & Advisory Board qualifications and I have recently done my Class 1 HGV. "The main challenges are adapting to the new changes in the industry as there are lots of new rules and regulations. Also getting used to newer lorries and machines."  Axe Skips has been run by the same family since 1985, when John and Jane Bostock set up the company with just one lorry and 20 skips. Today we operate a large sorting station near Axminster with five lorries, more than 500 skips and 12 employees. Jane has been sorting through old photos and found some of the early days when we just had a few skips, as well as records of our community involvement. This has included taking part in the Axminster Carnival every year and supporting numerous local charities with donations and involvement in projects. She says: “We had an agricultural engineering business in Chard in partnership with a friend who then decided on a change of career, so everything was sold and not knowing what to do next we brought a seaside kiosk at West Bay. We ran it for two years and enjoyed it very much. “John was always looking to do something else, so one day when a skip lorry drove past and he thought that might be something that would suit him. We sold the kiosk and brought a Dodge 50 series skip loader lorry and 20 mini skips. We were able to work from home and there were several local tipping places at that time. We thought we would give it 12 months and see how it went! “It was a slow start for a few years but it worked out very well. The Environment Agency began to tighten the rules and we had to use the Devon County Council tip at Sutton but when that rapidly filled so we had to look elsewhere. We were fortunate to buy the old council highways depot at Kilmington and were granted permission to turn it into a recycling yard. John had to take a level 4 NVQ in Waste Management to run the site and that was not easy!” Whilst John was out in the lorry Jane was back in the yard sorting the waste and driving the loading shovel, filling the 40yd roll on bins. Non recycled materials were taken to landfill sites and they managed to recycle the wood, metal, paper and hardcore. “We have had some wonderful staff over the years in the yard, driving and in the office - which has been like an extended family for us. Sadly John died of cancer in 2009, so we have raised a lot of money over the years for Hospiscare, which looked after him. I am sure he would be very proud of everyone who has worked here past and present.”  As part of our series marking 40 years in business, owner James Bostock looks back at his time with Axe Skips. John and Jane Bostock set up the company in 1985 and their son James now runs it with his wife Karen and daughter Juliette. He says: “I used to travel around with dad in the lorry and remember we would just go and pick up a skip and then take it to the local tip and empty it. How things have changed, now I am now the one driving around and we hand sort and separate all the skips and van loads that come into our yard before the waste is either recycled or disposed of. "I finished college and worked at a golf course for a few years and then in the early 90s joined mum and dad in the business. With the sad passing of dad 13 years ago, I then took over the running of the company with the help of my wife Karen who runs the office and recycling side of things. Our 19 year old daughter recently joined us and is also driving the lorries. “We have spent 40 years building up Axe Skips to what it is today and are very proud of our staff and what we have achieved. We are always looking for ways to improve our recycling and impact on the environment, but constant changes make it difficult at times. As with any business, there is always the red tape aspect of it which is demoralising, especially with the ever growing numbers of fly tippers in our lovely countryside who operate without the licences we have to apply for. “As a local business we try to help out as many local charities, events and causes as much as possible, we are great believers in putting back into a community we are proud to live in. This includes local football and cricket clubs, horses, rock concerts, annual shows and individual causes.”  As part of our 40 year anniversary celebrations, we will be sharing memories of Axe Skips over the years. Pepe is our wonderful Office Administrator and one of our longest serving employees. Here is her story.  The first "office" - a somewhat chilly portakabin!  Axe Skips employee Juliette Bostock is marking International Women’s Day on March 8th by swatting up for her HGV Operator’s Licence. When 19 year old Juliette passed her Class 1 HGV test at the first attempt, having only passed her car driving test less than a year before, the qualification took her a step closer to her dream of setting up a haulage company with her own fleet of lorries. Traditionally seen as a male role, currently only 1% of Class 1 HGV drivers in the UK are female. With a national shortage of delivery drivers, many industries hope to recruit women to fill these vacancies. To qualify, candidates need to do 35 hours of training, take five tests to gain their Driver Certificate of Professional Competence. Juliette works at Axe Skip Hire in the back office, but is hoping to start doing deliveries from April. In her spare time she is a show jumper competing up to 1.20m on her horse Romeo. She is also studying for an apprenticeship in Equestrian Sporting Excellence, a level 3 advanced qualification equivalent to A Level, for elite athletes. Juliette says: “My future plans are to carry on with my showjumping career, as well as starting a new haulage firm with my family. I want to be able to have it running successfully, as well as growing the company enough to then be able to start my own horse transportation nationally and internationally. This will then mean I can enjoy competing here and overseas, but it’s then paying for itself.” Juliette recently featured in Devon Live and the Midweek Herald. You can also hear her story on BBC Devon.   Is your company ready for changes to business waste rules? From 31st March 2025, simpler recycling legislation comes into force.
All workplaces (businesses and non-domestic premises) in England will have a legal duty to present the following wastes separated in accordance with the arrangements with their waste collector:
Workplaces that generate garden waste have a legal duty to manage it in accordance with the waste hierarchy and arrange for it to be recycled or composted if it delivers the best environmental outcome. Workplaces can decide on the size of containers and frequency of collections based on the volume of waste they produce. You do not need to provide bins for your customers, however, if you provide bins, you will need to separate dry recyclable waste, food waste and black bin waste. You should discuss the requirements with your waste collector and arrange separate dry recycling, food waste and black bin waste collection. Axe Skips Waste Management is fully licensed on a permitted site, so your waste is taken with all the relevant and appropriate paperwork. This means you can be assured of a safe and compliant disposal. We are not just a skip hire company, we offer many other services including advice on rules and regulations. Book us to come for a site visit to discuss options on 01297 32470. www.gov.uk/guidance/simpler-recycling-workplace-recycling-in-england  Meet our yard dog Ted. A fun loving dude, with a weakness for ice cream! Breed: Ted will be seven on the 28th October. He's quite a mix of breeds, having been rescued from a chaotic house with a lot of different dogs running wild. His mum was a Husky x Alaskan Malamute and his dad was a German Shepherd x collie x spaniel! This mostly means he is very very fluffy and extremely cuddly. He has the most amazingly calm temperament and is instantly loved by everyone who meets him. Loves: life, squeaky toys, chasing squirrels, going to work, in fact going anywhere in the car, children, horses, going to watch horse events, ice cream. Dislikes: having a bath. Fun facts: Ted is just one walking fun fact, starting with his crazy breeding! He is such a happy floofy dude, loves being around people and has crazy facial expressions which mean he just cheers up anyone who is around him. At work he likes to be busy in the yard and can often be found checking out the skips for anything worth saving. As a result he has a lot of toys and hundreds of tennis balls! Awards: Winner of Skip Hire Magazine's "Pooch of the Year" in 2021.   As featured in South West Business Insider Magazine.
Axe Skips in Axminster is a family run business, which started in 1984. The owners James and Karen Bostock have recently made a significant investment in recycling the waste that is brought into their yard, by sorting suitable materials and shredding what they can, with the potential for creating Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). The company has set itself a target of ultimately sending zero to landfill. Karen said: “Waste from the building trade presents a big challenge for us. Products such as wood, plasterboard, uPVC and metals unfortunately cannot be recycled at the moment. "Consequently, we have just invested in a large shredding machine which breaks down a lot of these and as a result we have already reduced our landfill by two 40 yard bin collections a week. “We are now looking into making waste into RDF, using biodegradable material and plastics. Any paper generated is shredded and used as horse bedding and we are currently recycling about 86% of the waste brought into the yard. We are investing in our own sustainable transport which has already resulted in cutting down on the mileage of the larger bins we fill with recyclable waste.” As featured in:
 A Devon based waste service business is calling on the next government to take a serious look at the industry and how it is regulated. Axe Skip Hire in Axminster says no support is given to a sector which is trying its best to embrace net zero and carbon neutral aims.
The small family run business, which has been going for 40 years, says the onerous red tape and bureaucracy is “difficult and demoralising” and that unlike other industries, such as farming and forestry, no grants are available to assist the waste industry to deal with new regulations, recycle more waste and reduce the amount which goes into landfill. Company Director James Bostock says: “Never has it been so difficult or demoralising to run our business. With all the talk about recycling and helping the environment, the next government needs to start looking at grants to help with continuous, nit-picking, impractical red tape, tests and changes imposed on us - all of which are additional costs.” One example of this is new mandatory soil testing measures, which were introduced to ensure toxic waste is not being processed or dumped. Axe Skip Hire says the Environment Agency (EA) has no real guidelines, help or advice about how this can be done. Each test costs around £250, with a soil skip costing from £180. James says: “The EA is becoming more and more difficult with regards to the waste, especially skip hire industry. If you are just a regular ‘man and a van’ all you need is a waste carrier’s licence. No regulations, red tape, qualifications and costs that we have to go through in order to to transport the same waste. “While we have to have a paper trail of every bit of waste that leaves our yard, others can just dump it anywhere. This has made fly tipping of general household waste including fridges, freezers, TVs, more and more apparent in the countryside, which means hazardous waste is being transported with no licences and just dumped. With nothing to inspect, it is hard to police, so it is just ignored whilst we are squeezed more and more.” Another example is the permitted use of red diesel, a cheaper form of fuel which is used by travelling fairs, agriculture, horticulture and rail transport. The waste industry, which has sorting vehicles only used on site, is no longer allowed to use it and has to run on normal diesel - despite having a lower impact on the environment. James says: “At every new decision/procedure or demand someone in an office, far far away from the work on the ground, comes up with an additional cost to us with no help, guidance - just ‘you can't do this’ and then more cost. “There is only so much you can keep passing onto the customer, especially when you have others in the same industry who can undercut you so much, as they don’t have the regulations or costs which have impacted us. “It's like they are trying to squeeze out the small businesses all together. Other sectors get grants or support to help the environment and keep them in existence when any new regulations are enforced on them. It’s about time the waste industry got the help it so obviously needs.” |
