2018 is a significant celebratory year for Rabbit Group – it’s our 30th anniversary. We take a look back at how far we’ve come over three decades, and how the Rabbit Group has grown…
The early years
Rabbit started way back in 1988 with just a single skip lorry and five skips, providing West Sussex homes and businesses with a reliable waste service. Fast forward eight years and we acquired our first Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Lancing, allowing us to roughly sort the waste from skips so we could start to recycle some of the content such as metals, soils and hardcore. This allowed us to begin minimising the waste that was going to landfill, marking a key turning point in our business. It came about for environmental reasons that were becoming increasingly evident in the mid 1990s, but the move also reflected the huge hike in the landfill tax rate that was introduced around that time too.
Into a new millennium
Rabbit thrived in the years that followed the introduction of our MRF, and when the opportunity to expand our MRF became available in 1999, the facility was extended to a neighbouring site to cover three acres. In 2007, things changed again. It marked a big year for Rabbit, moving the MRF from the original Marlborough Road site to Chartwell Road, investing £1.7m into an automated facility. This new technology improved our waste segregation and recovery, further reducing the waste we were sending to landfill. The decision reflected seismic shifts in the industry at the time, with two local landfill sites closing down and the implementation of the Landfill Directive.
Responding to radical shifts in the industry
It was in 2007 that we developed a solution for the biomass fraction of skip waste collected from local schools, builders and households. We were granted planning permission for a power plant on the Marlborough Road site. The construction of this power plant would burn the biomass element of the waste that was previously disposed of to landfill and generate an additional revenue stream with the sale of electricity – now known as our Energy from Waste facility.
Diversifying our business
Alongside the exciting developments we had on the skip and waste side of the business, we diversified in 1999 with Rabbit & Dowling, providing plant equipment to hire and becoming a one stop shop for builders and developers looking for a comprehensive package of items they needed for their sites. Today, 19 years later, Rabbit offers over 200 plant items. Further diversification of our business happened in 2003 with the creation of Rabbit Demolition. Now, collectively, all the parts of our business are known as Rabbit Group.
The future of Rabbit Group
In the past 30 years, our business has proudly gone from strength to strength, adapting to changes in legislation, customer demand and responding diligently to environmental issues. Although we reflect fondly on those times of transition and growth, we always keep our focus on the future of Rabbit and remain committed to the role we play in our industry – one that’s never been in sharper focus from our customers, the government and media as how environmental issues are tackled.
It’s been a great 30 years. Here’s to another 30 more.
Contact Rabbit today for more information skip hire, recycling and plant hire. Reach us on 01903 762020 or email info@rabbitgroup.co.uk.
