THE Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has announced the speaker line-up for its 10th annual conference, taking place on Thursday 21st May at One Great George Street, Westminster, London.
This year’s event features the theme ‘Unlocking the Nation’s Growth Plans’. Hosted by industry content creator Peter Haddock, the one-day event will bring together voices from across construction, plant hire and policy to address key issues including infrastructure delivery, skills, communications and decarbonisation.
The conference programme features four sessions:
• Half-Built Britain: Unlocking the Nation’s Infrastructure Growth Plans – Led by Oxford Economics, this session will explore the findings of the CPA’s latest report, highlighting the opportunities and challenges facing the UK’s construction and infrastructure sector. Oxford Economics will be joined by CPA policy director Chris Cassley, Charlesbye’s Cameron Brown, Patrick Flannery of Flannery Plant Hire, Peter Gibbs of Ainscough Crane Hire, Chris Matthew of Plantforce, and Mark Hoad of Sunbelt Rentals.
• Building Skills for the Workforce – Award-winning plant operator Molly Gill of Flannery Plant Hire will share her career journey. After leaving her role as a nursery assistant, Molly joined the Operator Skills Hub with no construction experience and progressed through training to become the Young Plant Operative of the Year at the CPA Stars of the Future Awards 2025. She will be joined by Aaron Davis, safety and skills director at Flannery Plant Hire, Rob Lynch of L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage and Paul Skitt of Business Skills & Support to discuss skills development and workforce pathways in the plant hire sector.
• Effective Communications in a Crowded Space – Lee Cain, founder of advisory firm Charlesbye and former Downing Street director of communications under PM Boris Johnson, will reveal how to cut through the crowded media landscape. Lee will share strategies for maximising impact and driving clear, influential messaging.
• Decarbonisation and Preparing for the Future – Luis Bassett, CPA’s decarbonisation and sustainability manager, will lead a session on the hire sector’s transition to low-carbon operations. The discussion will cover equipment adoption, financing, telematics, carbon reporting and ESG compliance. Luis will be joined by Chris Sleight from Off-Highway Research, ESG PRO’s Joe Gallagher, Steve Moody of Construction Plant Finance and Charles Bénard of Hiboo.
CPA CEO Steve Mulholland said, “The combination of a new venue, updated format and a strong speaker line-up positions this as a key date in the industry calendar, and delegate tickets are already selling quickly. The conference comes at a critical time for the sector, with our latest Oxford Economics report providing a strong platform for discussion on how industry and government can work together to unlock growth. We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone to One Great George Street.”
