Basingstoke Skip Hire started in 1982 when Mick Mercer and his wife Ellie set up the then Oakley based company to provide a cost effective local skip hire facility.

The fast, efficient service at a reasonable price proved extremely popular with local businesses. A growing base of satisfied customers meant that the company expanded rapidly and soon outgrew its original site. So, in 1990, Basingstoke Skip Hire moved to its current home in Wade Road, Basingstoke. The new depot allowed the company to expand its profile of services. It was now able to offer prospective customers a full range of waste management and recycling facilities. A new waste transfer station was opened, as was a weigh-bridge. The fleet expanded to include roll on/off lorries for bulk waste disposal and articulated lorries for aggregate haulage, thus Southern Waste Management was born.