Getting to know…David Marshall
David Marshall was appointed Worsley Plant’s area sales manager for Scotland after impressing MD Sean Heron when he worked on the attachment specialist’s stand...
Getting to know… Darren Gilmour
Darren Gilmour started his career with the Malcolm Group as a trainee plant operator in 1994. Today he's Director of Plant at the firm....
Reducing emissions from NRMM with alternative fuels
It is an uncomfortable truth that there is no single fuel solution to the air quality problem for the construction sector.
New blood vital to the SPOA
Jim Houstoun, Past President of the Scottish Plant Owners Association (SPOA), currently involved with training for members, explains why the organisation remains in robust...
Getting to know…
THERE'S not much Peter Yarwood hasn’t seen in over four decades in the plant industry.
From his early days in the family business to taking...
Hitachi ’empowers’ customers with new medium excavators
HITACHI has announced that owners and operators have been put 'at the heart' of the design for its latest Zaxis-7 medium excavators: the ZX210-7,...
Clock is ticking on firms eligible for AIA tax relief
A new survey shows British plant firms are in danger of missing out on tax relief worth hundreds of thousands of pounds due to...
Getting to know…Gail McEwen
Gail McEwen is director and lead trainer at Setting Out For Construction. She was recently named as co-chair of the new SPOA Women in...
Honesty is best policy for Hardox Wearparts Stirling
“IT’S great to be part of an organisation that’s actively trying to grow and capture new opportunities as the mists of the recession start...
Getting to know… Sandy Fairweather
SANDY Fairweather is one of the most admired and popular figures in the Scottish plant industry. He’s seen most things after a lifetime in...
Best foot forward
A.T. Best Handlers Ltd. has opened a new depot in Tranent, East Lothian after telehandler manufacturer Manitou extended the company’s area at the start of this year.
Compressors on track to meet tough rail challenge
COLAS Rail is using Doosan Portable Power’s new generation of compressors to apply shotcrete to the interiors of French train tunnels.
Colas is the...
Getting to know…Tim Ferwerda
Tim Ferwerda, sales, marketing and distribution director of Finning UK & Ireland, is by his own admission relatively new to the plant industry, having...
Getting to know…Heath Davies
HEATH Davies is general manager of Mecalac Construction Equipment UK. The firm has added a number of new products to its portfolio over the...
The components that make the wheels turn
Graham Bow, committee member of the Scottish Plant Owners Association, takes a look at some of the changes within the plant industry in recent...
A powerful partnership
Kubota UK joined forces with engine and transmission specialist Mitchell Powersystems (MPS) in 2016 in a strategic partnership that established MPS as the official...
Departure from the norm helps breathe new life into trade body
Outgoing Scottish Plant Owners Association (SPOA) president Callum Mackintosh reflects on his term in office and explains why the journey both challenged and exceeded...
There’s never been a more important time to join YOUR trade association
The Scottish Plant Owners Association (SPOA) appointed HHH Equipment founder Callum Mackintosh as its new president earlier this year. With trade bodies playing a...
Getting to know…Brian McGrane
BRIAN McGrane is area sales manager for southern and central Scotland for Liebherr, where he is tasked with selling a full range of products...
Role diversity helps lift Scottish crane technician
Glasgow-based Sandy McCulloch is one of three service technicians dedicated to keeping the Manitowoc mobile cranes, crawler cranes and boom trucks of Scotland in...
In the Black: hard work pays off for Stewarton hire firm
WHEN Tom Blackwood bought out his retiring father, Tom Senior, in 2001, Blackwood Plant Hire consisted of a few machines.
Today, the Stewarton-based firm has...
The right side of the tracks
AFTER joining his father's drainage company as a machine operator straight from school, Gareth McLaughlin is now Sales Manager for Kilwinning-based Kattrak International Limited.
Specialising...
Five benefits of going green on-site
SITES in the construction sector are turning green in order to combat the challenges climate change presents to our society. Alongside the environmental concerns...
Getting to know…Richard Denholm
RICHARD Denholm is sales and service director for Morris Site Machinery, a fifth generation family-run business which is continuing to see sales grow north...
Wet processing plant helps firm to double up
A family business in Tempo on the outskirts of Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, has reportedly doubled its materials processing ability since installing a new CDE wet...
Mini machines fill the final gap in JCB range
JCB is expanding its Next Generation line of mini and midi-excavators, with the launch of two 2.5-tonne models. Here, Dan Gilkes gives his take...
Getting to know…Paul McCormack
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...
CRJ: Expert Third-Party Servicing for Recycling and Waste Processing Machinery
This article contains sponsored content.
In the competitive recycling and waste processing industry, machinery downtime can severely impact productivity and profitability. As the official UK...
Cloburn Quarry fix costs and save fuel with new Cat
CLOBURN Quarry in Lanarkshire has become the first company in Scotland to purchase a Cat® 966K XE Wheel Loader.
The business has also invested in...
The sound of success
Mark Williamson, sales and marketing director at PH Media Group, looks at how plant hire firms can harness the power of on-hold marketing to...



































