CPA Bulletin

GETTING TO KNOW: 2 What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen during your time in the plant industry? There have been many. Health and Safety and Training are up there with the biggest changes. Both have become industries within the industry themselves and much of it has undoubtedly been to the benefit of us all. As an industry we do continue to have injuries and in worst cases fatalities. Best practice is something that shall no doubt continue to evolve as equipment, where it works and what it is used for, continues to change. Therefore I feel that CPA involvement, especially through CPCS and its forerunners and Special Interest Groups, has been of benefit to the industry. Standard setting is something that we, the plant sector, should be directly involved in. After all, we are meant to be the experts. Also the digital age sprang upon us with regards to products and services which has seen some of the most technological advances from how we administer our businesses to the products we own and operate. What have been your career highlights so far? Getting the chance to do so many roles so early on gave me an understanding of how a plant business worked. This led to setting up our own non-operated plant business, I was 26 years of age. The industry in general interests and fascinates me. This led to me doing association work for the Scottish Plant Owners Association (SPOA) and then becoming their youngest President, which led to the introduction to the CPA Council (we were already members) and so a good working relationship began with our efforts in the CPCS management committee and Special Interest Groups. I was then elected onto CPA Council and of course I am now Chairman. Our business has had Hire, Transport, Safety and Training awards and achieved numerous accreditations which are a credit to our staff. All of the aforementioned being highlights. However, the biggest highlight for me is being able to give a person a job, young or more mature, the opportunity to train and learn, progress and succeed, enabling them to have a career. Many of whom didn’t know what plant hire was when applying! Have you got any funny anecdotes from your career? Many, often involving ‘learning’ how to drive machines at an early age, most would definitely be frowned upon these days. Also, as a young manager a few of us went to a meeting which involved staying over the night before at a hotel. Travelling in casual clothes, suits in cases a colleague, of similar build to me, would always pack a little bottle of something in his case. The following morning I received a call to see if I had spare shirt, tie and suit. I didn’t. The said bottle had smashed in his case on the journey. However, another colleague did have spare clothes. He was twice our size! The sight of our friend walking down to meet us with those clothes on shall not leave me. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? In the context of plant: ‘Never start a machine if you don’t know how to stop it!’ Sounds obvious nowadays, but to a youngster desperate to try out any new machine it was something I heeded after mishap or two! In life: Treat others the way you would expect to be treated yourself in any given situation. How do you relax when you’re not working? Family time and sport, preferably the two combined wherever possible. Finally, are you optimistic for the future of the UK plant sector? The plant sector has shown itself to be very resilient throughout the years. That said we seem to be in uncertain times in some respects. Indecision around Brexit, infrastructure project start delays, the collapse of Carillion with others possibly in difficulty, all have an adverse knock-on effect for our industry. That said, nothing can be built without a requirement for plant, and there does appear to be plenty of work in the pipeline with infrastructure works, which coupled with the buoyant house building sector, bodes well, so as ever I am optimistic with regards to the future. But it shall not be without its challenges, which is something our industry seems to rise to time and again. www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > May 2019 39