THE UK’s top plant apprentices have been recognised at the Stars of the Future awards, hosted by the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA).
80 nominations were received for the awards, which identify some of the brightest up-and-coming talent and future leaders across occupations including plant mechanics, technicians, hire controllers, installers, and operatives.
Almost 300 people attended the ceremony at the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre in Fillongley, near Coventry, hosted by former TV newsreader, presenter and journalist Merryn Myatt. This was the 12th year of the apprentice awards and nominations were judged by 13 judges from the CPA and across the industry.
CPA president Brian Jones said, “Stars of the Future is one of the CPA’s flagship events and one that we’re very proud of. We’d like to congratulate all the nominees and winners – it’s a tremendous achievement in itself for apprentices to be nominated by their employer or training provider for a Star of the Future award. Testimony to the success of the awards is that many previous Stars of the Future award winners have gone on to secure senior positions in the construction plant industry.
“We would like to thank all our sponsors, without whom we simply could not stage such an event or reward our winners so considerably. Award winners received some fabulous prizes, including tool kits, machine training courses, iPads, an overseas trip to visit a Liebherr crane manufacturing plant in Germany, another overseas trip to one of Wolffkran’s manufacturing facilities in Luckau, Germany, and a VIP day courtesy of JCB.”
The winners of each national category were as follows:
- National Plant Mechanic of the Year (Level 2) – Bethan Whittaker of KJ Services and Bridgend College
- National Plant Technician of the Year (Level 3) – Morgan Wardle of Banks Plant Solutions and Askham Bryan College
- Hire Controller of the Year – Millie Scott-Young of Sunbelt Rentals
- Young Plant Operative of the Year – Josh Jones of L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage
- Plant Operative of the Year – Reece Stray of L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage
- Lifting Technician of the Year – Zac Bradshaw of Commhoist
- Plant Installer of the Year – Hayden Chappell of Southern Hoist Services
- Individual Apprentice Mentor of the Year – Steve Gwynn of Sunbelt Rentals
- Group Apprentice Mentor of the Year – Dave Rogers of L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage
- Best Personal Statement Award – Shannon Weiss of Finning UK and Finning Academy
- Judges’ Special Award – Tom Williams of CBL and Bridgend College
Stars of the Future had a two-tier judging process – the CPA selection panel and a panel of external judges who decided the eventual winners. The external panel included Arran Willis of Liebherr-GB, Siôn Morgan Jones of ACOP Group, Kirsty Archbold-Laming of Southern Hoist Services, Leigh Sparrow of Vertikal Press, Graham Black of Earthmovers magazine, Tim Brownbridge of BAM Nuttall, independent judge Rob Allen, Georgina Williams of JCB and Sean Scarah of Balfour Beatty.
The complete list of Stars of the Future 2024 category winners and those who were highly commended is as follows:
Plant Mechanic of the Year – North
Sam Ellis, Flannery Civil Engineering, Askham Bryan College – Winner
Plant Mechanic of the Year – Midlands
Luke Sutton, Synergy Hire, National Construction College East – Winner
Luke Divit, Marubeni-Komatsu, NSCG Stafford College – Highly Commended
Tyler Hartles, Marubeni-Komatsu, NSCG Stafford College – Highly Commended
Plant Mechanic of the Year – South
Josh Thomas, Liebherr-GB, NSCG Stafford College – Winner
Joe Mustey, Earlcoate Construction & Plant Hire, National Construction College East – Highly Commended
Luke Piggott, Vp Brandon Hire Station, Myerscough College – Highly Commended
Mike Kinnane, Sunbelt Rentals, Myerscough College – Highly Commended
Plant Mechanic of the Year – Scotland
Kai Blackburn, Ord Industrial & Commercial Supplies, National Construction College Scotland – Winner
Leeona McEwan, GAP Group, National Construction College Scotland – Highly Commended
Plant Mechanic of the Year – Wales
Bethan Whittaker, KJ Services, Bridgend College – Winner
Ethan Williams, KJ Services, Bridgend College – Highly Commended
National Plant Mechanic of the Year
Bethan Whittaker, KJ Services, Bridgend College – Winner
Josh Thomas, Liebherr-GB, NSCG Stafford College – Highly Commended
Plant Technician of the Year – North
Morgan Wardle, Banks Plant Solutions, Askham Bryan College – Winner
Ethan Hopwood, Allan J Hargreaves Plant Engineers Ltd, Preston College – Highly Commended
Thomas Joynt, Sunbelt Rentals, Myerscough College – Highly Commended
Subhaan Nawaz, Bachy Soletanche, Midland Group Training Services – Highly Commended
Plant Technician of the Year – Midlands
Courtney Price, SMT, Reaseheath College – Winner
Shannon Weiss, Finning UK, Finning Academy – Highly Commended
Oliver Voss, Watling JCB, National Construction College East – Highly Commended
Owen Van Greuning, Marubeni-Komatsu, NSCG Stafford College – Highly Commended
Plant Technician of the Year – South
Harry Totman, Liebherr-GB, NSCG Stafford College – Winner
Thomas Fuentes-Moreno, Vp Brandon Hire Station, Myerscough College – Highly Commended
Jack Southam, Southern Cranes & Access, National Construction College East – Highly Commended
Plant Technician of the Year – Scotland
Louie Masson, Pat Munro (Alness), National Construction College Scotland – Winner
Plant Technician of the Year – Wales
Tom Williams, CBL, Bridgend College – Winner
National Plant Technician of the Year
Morgan Wardle, Banks Plant Solutions, Askham Bryan College – Winner
Courtney Price, SMT, Reaseheath College – Highly Commended
Harry Totman, Liebherr-GB, NSCG Stafford College – Highly Commended
Hire Controller of the Year
Millie Scott-Young, Sunbelt Rentals – Winner
Lauren Jobson, Sunbelt Rentals – Highly Commended
Young Plant Operative of the Year
Josh Jones, L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage – Winner
Lewis Ensor, L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage – Highly Commended
Plant Operative of the Year
Reece Stray, L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage – Winner
Lifting Technician of the Year
Zac Bradshaw, Commhoist – Winner
Plant Installer of the Year
Hayden Chappell, Southern Hoist Services – Winner
Arran Heath, Wolffkran – Highly Commended
Individual Apprentice Mentor of the Year
Steve Gwynn, Sunbelt Rentals – Winner
Bill Munday, Earlcoate Construction & Plant Hire – Highly Commended
Tony Jenkins, Marubeni-Komatsu – Highly Commended
Group Apprentice Mentor of the Year
Dave Rogers, L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage – Winner
Jo Stamp, Sunbelt Rentals – Highly Commended
College of the Year
Bridgend College – Winner
Myerscough College – Highly Commended
Best Personal Statement Award
Shannon Weiss, Finning UK, Finning Academy – Winner
Award for Future International Development
Courtney Price, SMT, Reaseheath College – Winner
Judges’ Special Award
Tom Williams, CBL, Bridgend College – Winner
