Paul McCormack has been MD of Stewarton-based Blackwood Plant Hire since heading up a management buyout in 2017. Since then, the firm has continued to go from strength-to-strength and its machines can be found on construction sites the length and breadth of the country. Major milestones have included the opening of a training academy in 2022, being named Small and Mid-Sized Rental Company of the Year at the European Rental Awards in 2024, and opening new depots in the north of Scotland. Paul recently told Project Plant about taking calculated risks, continued expansion plans, and why you should always check your business cards before handing them out…
Q) You started your career as a plant operator. Why was that the career route you chose?
A) I left school and worked with JCB as an apprentice. Then I was a fitter there for about a year and wanted more money, so I left and went to college and worked with my dad labouring at the same time. He got me in with Malcolm as a plant operator and then I went from there to hire desk and then left to join Blackwood Plant.
Q) Was there anyone in those early days who had a real influence and helped shape how you operate today?
A) My dad has always been my hero. Tom Blackwood (previous owner of Blackwood Plant) also helped me a lot when I started – he gave me a chance to go on the road, chapping doors with no experience. Hopefully I proved a good investment for him.
Q) What does your current role as Blackwood Plant MD entail?
A) Sitting with my feet up! No, it can be anything from going to visit customers, meetings, my phone doesn’t really stop! My day’s always busy – I’m in here from 7am to 6pm and sometimes working at night in the house, which my wife doesn’t approve of! The business is 24/7. We’ve got a lot of railway, utility, and Scottish Water work so that keeps us busy and we’re very reactive; if someone emails at 9pm they’ll get a response at night.
Q) You headed a management buyout in 2017. What was that like?
A) Stressful. I was stressed, but I wasn’t concerned about it until the morning (the deal went through) because I’d just moved house the day before and my wife was pregnant. I was sitting in Wetherspoons in Glasgow with a cup of tea and toast saying to myself ‘What am I doing? I’m putting everything on the line here’. The only way I could justify it in my head was (to say) if I’m lying on a sun lounger when I’m 55 or 60 and somebody drives past in a supercar, at least I can say I tried!
Myself and Allan Wilson (operations director) took the business over in 2017 and went on to win the Best Small & Mid-Sized Rental Company in Europe in 2024’s ERA Awards in Lisbon, which was an incredible achievement for the business and overwhelming for both of us.
Q) Would that be your advice – to just take the chance when an opportunity presents itself?
A) Weigh it up first. We had a good mentor with Tom Blackwood. I had worked with Tom since 2008, and he and I never had a cross word. I had full autonomy to run the business as my own and when the opportunity came up, it was good. The business could afford to buy itself out at that time. You don’t want to take a chance and end up with no house, so there’s a lot of things you need to consider. But if an opportunity comes up, you need to go for it. You’ll just regret it if you don’t, and you’ve got to take calculated chances.
Q) You often take your kids and their pals into the Blackwood world. Is it important to continue the tradition that your dad led with you?
A) When I was younger my dad would take me out to sites and let me get a wee shot of a digger. You can’t do that now, so I give them a shot in here (the office). It is important to me. I want them to know that you’ve got to work. My dad instilled that into me; that you’ve got to work and I don’t want them to think that they can just lie back and have everything land at their feet.
Q) What advice would you have for youngsters considering a career in plant?
A) Be patient. You’re not going to learn it all in one day; you need to listen. There was a guy called Alan Spiers who took me under his wing and that’s how I learnt how to operate a digger. I could drive a digger, but I couldn’t operate a digger. Once I’d been with Alan, I could operate a digger – he showed me the tricks of the trade. You’re not going to learn everything from a 10-day course or 12-week apprenticeship; you need to be learning all the time. We’ve got guys with 30/40 years’ experience who are learning new tricks. With GPS coming through and different things, you need to be adaptable. It’s a good way of making a living – you can be earning £50-60,000+ driving a digger.
Q) You put emphasis on the mental wellbeing of your team. Is that an understanding you’ve always had, or have you developed it over time?
A) You’re always aware of it, but probably being on The Lighthouse committee for the west of Scotland has given me a lot more knowledge of what’s going on. We’re a big supporter of Andy’s Man Club as well. A big thing we push is that there’s support there if the guys need it. We’re not a business where you’re just a number. If you need support we’ll help you; you’re one of the team.
Q) The company recently opened depots in Nairn and Inverurie. What prompted the move north?
A) We’ve had work continuously (in the north) since 2011 and decided we needed to get a local foothold to react to customers there in the same way we react to customers down here. We also want to try and grow the operator base up there – we’re looking at opening a training school in Inverurie this year to try and bring more operators in the area and partner with local projects to bring some local apprentices through.
Q) Are market demands different in the north of Scotland?
A) I’ve always loved the Highlands because the people are often very relaxed! The hires are also more long-term. Down here it’s usually days here and there, whereas up there it’s a week minimum and they’re very understanding. It’s 100mph down here at times!
Q) How do you relax outside of work?
A) I’ve got two young kids, so I don’t get to relax! I like spending time with my kids and wife – we go to the Kilmarnock games and out for dinner, but you don’t get much time to chill!
Q) The company is a sponsor of Kilmarnock Football Club. How did that come about?
A) In 2019, we put an email out to two other clubs. One offered a (spot on the) waiting list, the other quoted us £5,000 a head with no further details. Kilmarnock phoned us, invited us to come in and said they’d tailor a package to suit us and our customers. We wanted somewhere you could take kids and families, where you could take somebody at a low or high level, and they wouldn’t feel out of place. We use it, customers use it, and it’s a nice family club.
We’ve been there for three years – the best thing for my boy is that he sees the sponsor on the back of the shirt when playing as Kilmarnock on FIFA/FC25 on the PlayStation! The staff enjoy it too. One had their boyfriend and father at the game at the weekend.
Q) Any funny stories from your time in plant?
A) We had the SPOA dinner last week and Gary, who works on our hire desk, needed new business cards for it. So, I got them made up with ‘tea boy’ listed as his job title – he had handed out a couple before noticing!
Q) You’ve previously described the plant and construction sectors as being like a team. Is there any industry like it?
A) No. It’s a massive industry, but it’s small with people because everyone moves in a circle and changes jackets. You’re dealing with the same people. It’s a massive monetary business, but the levels of staff and people in it are quite low, so I’d say the industry as a whole has a team outlook because we all work together to make the same goal.
A lot of our customers are friends. We’ve dealt with some for 17 years. I enjoy going for a coffee or just sitting in their office and having a bit of craic; 99% of the conversation is nothing to do with work.
Q) What does 2025 hold for the company?
A) Continue to grow the fleet and continue to grow up north. We’ve got a hire/crane lorry joining the fleet in March, so we’re hoping to get that out on hire as well as hopefully a second one coming in the summer. We can see a market for that; we’re trying to look at different things outside of the norm to keep the fleet going so we’re not competing with the mainstream. We’re big on safety, with things such as Safety Shield and XWatch so we’ll continue to look at innovations along the line.
