JCB has revealed that a £7.5 million investment in the firm’s Young Talent programme has created 168 new jobs this year, including a record number of apprentices. 117 of the new recruits are apprentices – JCB’s largest ever single intake of apprentices – as the...

BROTHERLY love has proved the order of the day at Skene Group in Glenrothes following the purchase of a second Volvo L220H loading shovel. The machine will be put to work at the group’s Soutra Mains Quarry alongside its three-year-old brother, which became the first...

GAP has announced a record turnover of £175 million – an increase of 11% – and its second highest profits ever. The equipment hire giant revealed pre-tax profit for the year ended 31st March 2017 has grown from £15.8 million to £17.1 million. This figure...

A visit to Volvo’s ‘Live it Dig it’ event in Alloa earlier this year has prompted a Kirkcaldy-based civil engineering contractor to purchase an EC220E excavator. Thomas Menzies Builders has invested in the machine, having been impressed by the levels of comfort, smoothness of control, noise...

SALES of construction equipment rose 6% in the first half of 2017 compared with the same period last year. Sales in Q1 increased by 8% on the previous year, but slowed to just 4% in Q2. The stats were revealed by the Construction Equipment Association...

BALFOUR Beatty is ‘likely’ to vote against the continuation of the CITB. The firm’s chief executive Leo Quinn said the training body has failed to deliver the skilled workers the construction sector requires and the industry ‘cannot afford to lose another three years’ if CITB...

MILLER UK has launched a new online service for attachment sales. The manufacturer has opened an eBay Shop, called Miller Direct, with the aim of initially selling compact attachments to mini-excavator owners. The move is in response to changing consumer attitudes and the surge in...

TILTROTATOR specialist Engcon has announced an investment in two new automated test facilities at its factory in Strömsund, Sweden. The manufacturer said it had teamed up with software developer Electrum and hydraulic supplier Specma in the development of the new test stations. Håkan Näsström, Engcon test...

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...