JCB director David Bell has been appointed the first honorary president of the Construction Equipment Association (CEA). David has been with JCB for 43, having initially joined the manufacturer as a graduate trainee following an engineering apprenticeship at Rolls Royce in Derby.  He has since...

STIRLINGSHIRE-based JCC Engcon Group has reportedly helped an Irish owner/operator “transform” his business thanks to the addition of an Engcon tiltrotator. Cian Rooney claims to have saved time and manual labour since replacing his old skid steer loader and Kubota mini digger with a Kubota...

GLASGOW-based Eagle Plant Hire has secured SafeHire certification at the first time of asking. The firm applied to Hire Association Europe for the accreditation to prove it was meeting high standards of operation. Following a successful audit process, Eagle is now officially a SafeHire Certified...

TAKEUCHI has launched two new hybrid alternatives to diesel-only mini excavators. The manufacturer’s most popular 1.6 tonne TB216 is now available as a hybrid along with the new TB210 micro excavator. Both Hybrids have been equipped with an electric motor for use where diesel is...

David Jarvie, committee member of the Scottish Plant Owners Association and business development director at Jarvie Plant Group, tells Project Plant that opportunities abound for Scotland’s hire industry post-Brexit THE Prime Minister, Theresa May, invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on 29th March and...

SCG Supplies has secured a deal to become Scottish distributors for Northern Ireland-based crushing specialist Tesab. The firm, which recently relocated from a Hamilton business park to modern premises in Airdrie, has already sold one of Tesab’s flagship jaw crushers to W H Malcolm Ltd...

SCOTPLANT 2018 is starting to take shape, with exhibition space filling up fast ahead of the biennial event for construction equipment. The 2016 show, which featured more than 150 exhibitors, was the most successful in the event’s history – and bookings are up when compared...

THE new CEO of SANY Europe is confident the Chinese manufacturer can become a “serious player” in the European plant market. Martin Knoetgen joined SANY’s European subsidiary in May with the target of growing the brand in this continent. SANY has been operating in Europe...

JOHN McCormick has been named the new chairman of NWH Group. NWH employs 275 staff located across five locations in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Dalkeith and Kirkcaldy. The firm’s services include waste recycling, road sweepers, concrete and aggregate supplies, skip hire and winter gritting. McCormick, who...

The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has appointed a new training and safety manager. Rob Squires, formerly training manager of the National Demolition Group, has previously worked for the Armed Forces and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) where he oversaw the staffing and delivery mechanisms...

THREE directors of Glasgow-based demolition contractor George Hunter (Demolishers) Ltd have been handed a directors’ ban after a probe found they had allowed the company to continue to incur liabilities despite knowing a petition to wind the company up was before the court. George Beattie...

A new campaign has been launched to encourage youngsters to consider a career in the Scottish construction sector and fill the void left by the thousands of workers set to retire over the next decade. Statistics show that 20% of the sector’s existing workforce will...

THE Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has launched a good practice guide around the safety of pressurising hydraulic systems using an external energy source for diagnostic purposes. The move follows a death caused by a pressurising activity where failure of a hydraulic component from an item of...

NEW guidance has been published to help tackle the issue of unintended movement of plant. When machines move due to operators accidentally or unknowingly touching a switch, lever or pedal – or if a different action occurs to the one the operator was expecting –...

KUBOTA has announced the return of its social media competition where fans can win a Virgin Experience Day worth £500 by posting pictures of themselves on their Kubota machine. The manufacturer said last year’s #MyKubota contest resulted in a record number of entries. Participants are encouraged...

THE “highest and most versatile high-reach excavator in the UK” has proved its worth in the demolition of Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane football stadium. Demolition specialist DSM teamed up with Finning, Cat OEM Solutions and Kocurek to produce the bespoke Cat 6015B machine, which...

Construction materials group Breedon has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Humberside Aggregates in a deal totalling £9 million. The Hull-based independent sand and gravel quarry and aggregates merchanting business currently employs around 30 people and supplies a broad range of customers including...

A used mini-excavator is set to play a role at Europe’s first elephant sanctuary. Hitachi Construction Machinery Europe (HCME) is donating a ZX38U-5 to help prepare facilities and carry out a number of important tasks at Elephant Haven, a site in southwest France which will act...

  TWO Scottish-based plant firms have received Silver Awards by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) for their commitment to health and safety. Motherwell manufacturer Terex Trucks and Glasgow’s GAP Hire Solutions have earned recognition at the annual RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, which...

JCB has secured a landmark deal with equipment rental company A-Plant worth over £55 million. The manufacturer has received an order for more than 1,200 machines including over 600 Loadall telescopic handlers and 450 mini and midi excavators, as well as rough terrain forklift trucks,...