Wheelie Bin Services cleaned up at the at the 2023 Matamata Piako District Business Awards, taking home the Trades, Manufacturing and Primary Industries award, the Fonterra People's Choice Award (Matamata region) and the Bayleys Supreme Business Award.
Based in Waharoa, just north of Matamata, this family business has been operating for 27 years and prides itself on delivering exceptional customer service.
Wheelie Bins Services General Manager, Vincent Andersen says the team are over the moon about the Business Award results.
“It feels like all the hard work we’ve put into the business over the past 27 years has paid off. The reputation we have in the community is pretty strong and that’s something we’ve built by being super reliable and always putting our customers first,” says Andersen.
Wheelie Bin Services collects household rubbish, recycling and green waste for residential customers in the Eastern Waikato region. It also offers a skip bin service for commercial and residential customers.
The business was founded by Vincent’s parents – Matamata local Kevin Andersen – who identified a problem with cumbersome black plastic rubbish bags that were prone to break and saw an opportunity to replace these with practical and sturdy wheelie bins.
After an initial purchase of 300 bins to get started off, Wheelie Bin Services now has more than 5,000 customers, 18 employees and 10 trucks operating.
The company has seen exponential growth in the last three years. Vincent Andersen says much of this growth is down to their focus on customer service and the strength of word-of-mouth advertising in the Matamata Piako district.
“I’m super proud of our reputation and the brand we’ve built. Our community are always right behind us and recommend Wheelie Bin Services to new customers which is great to see,” says Vincent Andersen.
This community support is a two-way street with Wheelie Bin Services regularly giving back to the community, sponsoring local sports clubs, the Matamata Theatre, the Matamata Rose Show and AMP Show.
In 2022, fuel prices and the Government’s landfill levy both rose exponentially which impacted Wheelie Bin Services’ costs and created a new set of challenges for the business.
This led to Vincent applying for Regional Business Partner support to receive funding for budgeting training and help Wheelie Bin Services manage these rising costs. Vincent worked with CFO4U to grow his budgeting knowledge.
If you’re a Waikato based business that wants funding to upskill yourself or your team, find out if you‘re eligible for Regional Business Partner funding where you can receive up to 50 per cent of training costs.