Staying a success

15/07/2016

Coming up on 10 years in business, Summerisland Waste Management has grown to become a leader in clean and efficient waste removal in Northern Ireland.

Irish Trucker spoke to company  Managing Director Colin McKitterick to find out more.

Taking pride in what he does has always been a source of inspiration for Colin McKitterick, and his work with Summerisland Waste Management continues to be as it approaches its 10th year in existence next year. 

First set-up by Colin in 2006, Summerisland has been specialising in waste disposal all over Northern Ireland ever since.  The Co Armagh-based business provide both domestic and commercial to its customers with a wide range of services including articulated vacuum tanker hire and septic tank cleaning and, as Colin illustrates, pride themselves on their many years of experience and on how this allows them to offer customers an efficient service every time. 
“We’re based here in Loughgall in Co Armagh and we’re established as a company since May 2006,” said Colin.

“We have three employed here full-time and we’ve also two part-time. What could be considered a family business, Summerisland essentially have over 22 years of experience in the industry, when you take Colin’s work background into account, and are the perfect company to call for all your waste disposal needs. 
They also have articulated vacuum tankers for hire for those of you able to complete the task but lacking in the safe and ideal equipment.

So what exactly do they do? 
“We draw various liquids for various companies,” Colin explained plainly. “We do some council work and some private and industrial septic tanks as well. We would very much rely on word of mouth to get us work all around and thankfully we’re fairly steady at the minute right now.”
‘Fairly steady’ translates to more than alright in the current market and certainly different times to when Colin took on his father’s own business some 15 years ago after he had unfortunately fallen ill. 

“My father had a couple of lorries and worked away in the same sort of business until he had a stroke back in 2000. It was really up to me then to take on the business from there and thankfully we’re still here 15 years later,” said the Armagh man. 

Providing a reliable service to their customers has been a key factor in Summerisland’s success to date and essential in growing the business to where it stands at present. 

McQuillan Envirocare and Northern Ireland Water are two of the longer standing contracted customers that can testify to the professionalism that Summerisland carry out in their work every day. 

As a ISO 14001 environmental registered company, the company provides a framework for environmental management best practice to help organisations minimise their environmental footprint. It also diminishes the risk of pollution incidents, provides operational improvements, ensures compliance with relevant environmental legislation and develops their business in a sustainable manner. 

Colin’s fleet is largely made up of Volvo trucks, with five tractor units and articulated tankers.  “I’ve seven vehicles in all,” he said. “I bought a stainless steel tanker in 2011. The downturn would have set us back a little bit at that time but it has definitely turned around in the last year or so, so we’re happy with how it’s going.”
The fleet allows Colin and his employees provide their services to customers throughout the whole of Northern Ireland, helping them with all their waste needs.

Waste Disposal, Articulated Vacuum Tanker Hire, Domestic Septic Tank Emptying and Septic Tank Cleaning are all aspects of the industry in which they specialise in and you’re urged to seesummerislandwaste.com to find out more on what the company can do for you.

For information on any of the products and services that Summerisland supply, you can call today using the telephone number at the top of the site page. Alternatively, you can also complete the form on the contact us page and a member of their friendly team will be happy to respond to your query.
“We are a reliable team and we know that this is an important service on which you can accept no less than our best. Because we are able to offer collection, transport, processing and disposal of septic tank waste you needn't look further for a routine visit,” the company’s website states. 


Summerisland Waste Management
48 Summerisland Road
Armagh,  Northern Ireland,  BT61 8LGM
Mob: 07976 824708
Web: summerislandwaste.com


Taken from Irish Trucker & Light Commercials magazine, Vol 18 No 8, October 2015