CPA Bulletin

Coming just a fewweeks before Brexit negotiations came to a head, the CPA Conference 2019 fell at a critical time for the construction plant sector. With well over 100 key decision makers signed up to attend the conference - the fifth in the CPA’s recent history - delegates were keen to hear about business critical issues such as mental health awareness and plant theft and fraud. Hosted at the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre near Coventry in the West Midlands, the theme of the conference was ‘Planting Resilience: Building for the Future’ and the headline sponsor for the event was the official CESAR Scheme and Datatag . Running alongside the conference was an exhibition with several companies from across the industry showcasing a wide range of examples of new technology and equipment demonstrating how the plant sector remains at the forefront of construction innovation. The exhibits extended from a tower crane simulator fromMPS Crane Operators, to health and safety virtual reality training from Pheonix International and a new tracked mini dumper from JCB. Outdoor exhibits included Thwaites dumpers, the latest spider cranes from GGR Group and a mobile welfare unit from GenQuip Groundhog. CPA Chief Executive Kevin Minton opened the event and outlined some of the challenges that the sector is currently facing, such as the difficulties of attracting employees to work in the industry and the impact of business uncertainty that has hit the construction sector, with one of the most rapid falls in construction activity for 10 years in the last quarter. Kevinmentioned that the rail plant sector in particular is suffering and outlined that the sector as awhole needs co-operation across the supply chain in three areas - operational and safety standards, long-termworkforce and skills development and risk management. He questioned what could be around the corner for construction plant itself. Exhaust emissions have gone from being a technical background subject to high in the public profile. Zero carbon has moved from being an idealist environmentalist concept to being at the heart of planning and procuring. And regarding the operative end of the machines, Kevin asked how long it would be before we see exoskeletons and robot arms displacing traditional methods of lifting and shifting. A brave new world awaits the construction plant sector, but we need to survive to get there first, hence why resilience and preparing for the future was chosen as the conference theme this year. Kevin finished his opening speech by welcoming Merryn Myatt as convenor for the event. Merryn is a former television newsreader, presenter and journalist, having worked on local and national radio and television, including being senior presenter on The Money Channel. Merryn introduced delegates to a brand new format for the CPA Conference to encourage debate and audience interaction. Unlike previous years where presenters have delivered keynote speeches using PowerPoint, it was decided to have a series of panel discussions with key people from across the industry. CPA Conference Review 2019 CPACONFERENCEREVIEW2019: 1 www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > November 2019 11