Case Study - A1 Clearance and Recycling

Monday 24 August 2026

The clearance firm that wants you to ask for its licence number

A1 Clearance and Recycling started trading in October 2019 with a modest and rather honest ambition. "We wanted to build a company that would employ our family and give us some financial stability," says Ian Larter, one of the directors. Nearly seven years on it employs five people, three family members and two friends, and runs three vans from Ellough Road in Beccles, covering a thirty mile radius.

The trade is house and business clearance, waste management and recycling. Some of it is a single sofa. Some of it is a whole shop, office or rental property emptied to the walls. The line the company uses is that it is always cheaper than a skip and it does all the work, which is a fair summary of the choice a householder is actually making.

The number every householder should ask for

Waste clearance is one of the few jobs where hiring the wrong firm can leave the customer in trouble rather than just out of pocket. Householders have a legal duty of care over their own rubbish, which means handing it only to someone authorised to take it. If a cheap van man fly tips a load in a lane, it is the household it came from that can be traced and fined, not only the person who dumped it.

The protection is a single question, asked before any money changes hands: what is your waste carrier registration number? A1's is CBDU311892, held with the Environment Agency, and anyone can check a number free on the public register. A firm that cannot produce one, or becomes vague when asked, has answered the question anyway.

Where it all actually goes

The second half of the name is not decoration. "We are proud to operate with a zero to landfill approach," Ian says, "ensuring the items we collect are reused, repurposed or recycled wherever possible." Loads come back to the yard and get separated rather than tipped, and scrap metal is collected free.

The reuse side is now becoming a business in its own right. Alongside the waste operation the company runs a preloved furniture warehouse, and the stated goal for the next few years is to make it as successful as the clearance work. For a firm whose vans note that some items are purchased to offset clearance costs, that is a reasonable direction of travel: the more that can be sold on, the cheaper the clearance gets.

Clearances that are not really about rubbish

A good deal of house clearance work arrives at a difficult moment. "We understand that clearances are often required during difficult or sensitive circumstances, particularly following a bereavement or when handling probate," Ian says. "Our team approaches every property with care, patience and respect."

In practice that means the practical things being taken off the family's hands. A1 will collect and return keys, work directly with the estate agent or solicitor rather than the relatives, and flag anything that looks as though it has resale or auction value rather than quietly putting it in the van. The commercial side works the same way for landlords, letting agents and holiday let operators, where the priority is usually discretion and a property emptied without fuss.

One of the first names on the list

A1 was among the first businesses to put itself forward for the Suffolk scheme. "We joined Trusted Trader when it first started," Ian says, "as we felt this would give the company a level of trust that, in this industry, is hard to find."

He has a point about the industry. Clearance and waste is a trade where the barrier to entry is a van and a phone number, so a listing run with Trading Standards was a way of demonstrating the difference rather than asserting it.

The vetting itself did not detain him long. "Vetting was fairly straightforward, but I was impressed by the level of checks carried out. I knew this would help our future customers feel reassured." Suffolk Trusted Trader is run in partnership with Suffolk County Council Trading Standards, and the checks are made on the business and on its owners.

“Membership has given us a major boost over our competitors and has definitely helped us to secure work.”

From nothing to a council contract

Growth has been steady rather than dramatic, which in this trade is the harder trick. The customer base now runs from householders to businesses, landlords and letting agents, and Ian believes the accreditation opened some of those doors. "I honestly believe that joining Trusted Trader helped with some of our commercial customers and indeed local councils, Beccles, Lowestoft and East Suffolk to name just a few."

He is proudest of the boring measure rather than the exciting one. The company points to its record on its council work, with no missed collections and no complaints, which for a waste contractor is the whole job description. A major contract has just been renewed and another van is on the cards.

The logo does not sit idle either. It is stickered on the vans, on the website, and it turns up regularly on the company's social media.

Ian Larter
Director, A1 Clearance and Recycling Ltd

Common questions

How do I check a clearance firm is allowed to take my waste?
Ask for their waste carrier registration number and check it on the Environment Agency's free public register before the work starts. A1's number is CBDU311892. This matters because householders have a legal duty of care over their own waste, so if rubbish from your home is fly tipped by an unregistered carrier, you can be held responsible for it.

Where does A1 Clearance and Recycling work?
Roughly thirty miles around Beccles, which covers Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Beccles and the surrounding towns and villages, working from Ellough Road in Beccles.

What does Trading Standards Approved mean?
The business and its owners have been checked and approved by Trading Standards before being admitted to the scheme. Trading Standards check and approve the business and its owners, they do not check, inspect or approve the quality of the work carried out.

• View A1 Clearance and Recycling's Suffolk Trusted Trader profile.
• Read A1 Clearance and Recycling's verified customer reviews.
• If you would like to become a Trusted Trader, you can apply here.
• If you are a Trusted Trader and would like to leave a case study either as text or as a video, get in touch.