CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > February 2025 15 CPA CONFERENCE REVIEW: 3 Jamie suggested that approximately 90% of CPA members are SMEs (small to medium enterprises). As such, they are likely to be impacted by fiscal measures such as the rise in employer National Insurance contributions. Indeed, Chris Cassley said the CPA had already cited data from the Oxford Economics report in a letter to the Financial Times responding to statements made in an article by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. In the second Conference panel session, themes under the title ‘The Innovative Plant-hire Company - Insights into Current and Future Developments and Innovations in the Sector’ were discussed by four panellists: Brian Jones , CPA President; Asif Latief , Chief Commercial Officer with Speedy Hire; Kathryn Adams , Commercial Director at Prolectric Services; and Mat Llewellyn , MD of MHM Group. Recalling Steve Mulholland’s opening remarks, Brian Jones highlighted the need to attract new industry recruits, ideally by making plant-hire appealing to schoolchildren in their early teens. Encouraging them to try out machine simulators could help, as well as promoting the idea that many modern plant machines have cab environments like the game consoles so adored by the young (and not so young). He also believed that CPA’s Stars of the Future Awards gave further encouragement in promoting plant-hire as a profession for skilled people rather than a trade for workers getting their hands dirty. Asif Latief said that Speedy is investing in AI to generate efficiencies and savings for customers. Systems can, for example, monitor the equipment hired to a site and check whether it is of the right specification, type and quantity. In this way, fleets can be optimised for the client and hirers might avoid investment in unneeded items. Asif said that AI could help contractors operating multiple regional sites to tailor equipment to specific locations, as well as predicting what items would be required in future and alerting the project manager in advance. Prolectric’s Kathryn Adams highlighted the importance of having accurate data about machine performance in terms of sustainability, which would facilitate discussions about various options plus the reductions in carbon and running costs that were achievable. She believed this ability would increasingly differentiate hirers in the ways they serve and retain customers, as users generally seek more sustainable solutions. The software and telematics on Prolectric machines enables calculations to be made accurately and she cited the example of the A417 road improvement project in Gloucestershire near an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The contractor successfully used Prolectric’s solar street lighting and was then keen to explore other sustainable options. Using captured data, the manufacturer’s ProPower solar hybrid generator was evaluated against traditional diesel machines and was found to be a cost-effective alternative regarding fuel savings, decreased maintenance and cost reductions over the project’s life. MHM’s Mat Llewellyn said that green equipment was now firmly on the agenda after a slow start – MHM introduced its first hybrid generator back in 2013. He said an important role for diesel equipment would remain for some time yet as fleets were gradually replaced, but it would be increasingly phased out. Echoing an earlier theme, he said collaboration between manufacturer, supplier, hirer and user would be crucial in determining appropriate solutions and their adoption. He agreed that having good data was vital. MHM has partnered with Gaia Energy whose energy management system (EMS) can monitor power usage, carbon and costs via telemetry. They claim to be able to reduce energy costs significantly, whether a site uses mains electricity or temporary setups, and customers can see the benefits themselves in real time. The specific challenge of ‘Expanding the Skills Base’ and of attracting, training and retaining people in the construction industry - and particularly women - was addressed in the third Conference panel session by four panellists: Katie Kelleher , CPA Technical and Development Officer; Deb Madden , Executive Director with CITB; Carl Hassell , Chief Operating Officer of training standards organisation NOCN Group; and Beth Doel , Advanced Technical Trainer at Reaseheath College. It became clear that there are no easy answers - one reason being that the problems and their causes are hard to identify. Katie Kelleher, who previously became a crane operator in amale-dominated world, said that misogynistic attitudes sadly still prevailed in some circles and that, despite recent initiatives and improvements, more needed to be achieved. Deb Madden suggested there may be an element of unconscious bias that reinforced a construction site cultural cliché of ‘dads