THE ‘success, resilience, and collaboration’ within the Scottish plant industry was celebrated at the recent Scottish Plant Owners Association’s (SPOA) 72nd annual dinner in Glasgow.
Hundreds of industry stakeholders attended the Hilton Glasgow for a fantastic evening of dinner, drinks, and entertainment.
Highlights included a comedy set by compere Des Clarke, a stirring Address to the Haggis by writer Graeme Johncock, and the handing out of the annual Apprentice of the Year Awards. The awards were co-sponsored by Kubota and CITB. Presented by Gary Cumiskey (head of CITB national construction college curriculum delivery) and SPOA president John Sibbald, Lewis Frew from Onestop Access in Motherwell was named Plant Mechanic of the Year, while Sandy Coull from Billy Miller Contractor & Plant Hire in Elgin picked up the Apprentice Plant Operator of the Year accolade.
A silent auction and raffle ran throughout the evening, and a short video was played about the night’s charity partner Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity’s ‘MakeItVisible’ campaign, designed to make welfare and wellbeing support more visible within the sector.
Project Plant editor Gary Moug was among the president’s top table guest line-up, which also featured Ian Hughes (engagement director, CITB Scotland), Mark Oakley (chairman, Civil Engineering Contractors Association – Scotland), David Jarvie (vice president, SPOA and MD of Jarvie Plant), Bill Paterson (SPOA past president), Nicola Campbell (regional ambassador Scotland, Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity), Graham Bell (secretary, SPOA), Craig MacWilliam (NFDC – Scotland), and Paul Mitchell (operations director, Scottish Building Federation).
In his president’s speech, John Sibbald described it as a ‘great honour and privilege’ to have the opportunity to represent such an illustrious association as the 34th president. Describing the SPOA as being ‘steeped in history’, he spoke about first joining the organisation’s committee many years ago and joked that his father David – founder of Sibbald Training – advised him not to put his hand up and volunteer to take on any responsibility!
John paid tribute to his predecessor Callum Mackintosh, telling guests that he took on the presidency after what can only be described as a ‘period of drastic change and modernisation’. Praising Callum’s openness, passion and dedication to the role, he revealed that the association had taken ‘huge leaps forward’ in recent years towards being a ‘more modern and forward-thinking’ organisation.
John went on to say his tenure will focus on completing the vision set out by the SPOA a few years back and continuing with the progress already made. He thanked all those who give up their time on the voluntary committee and hailed the work of membership administrator Vicky Park for providing a consistent point of contact and for her role in helping to communicate industry information to members in a more consistent manner thanks to the implementation and continuous development of membership management systems.
John encouraged all members who haven’t yet done so to pop in to the SPOA’s new permanent headquarters in Stirling. He also stressed the importance of training, engaging with young people, and the potential impact the organisation’s Tenstar simulator will have as it becomes an ‘instrumental tool’ at careers events across Scotland.
Describing the recruitment and training of youngsters as the ‘best investment any of us could make’, John highlighted the need for employers to provide opportunities for young people to break into the sector, emphasising the importance of fresh ideas and embracing digitisation.
The speech ended with a rallying call to help attract new members to the SPOA to grow the organisation further. John stated that the more members the trade body has, the bigger its voice can be within the industry.
