by Richard Cosgrove | Tue 07 Jan 2025
The search is on for the UK’s most promising plant apprentices
A nationwide search is on for the most promising apprentices and trainees in the construction plant industry who, in the eyes of their employers, are likely to become tomorrow’s leaders of the sector.
The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) - the largest trade association for the plant-hire sector in the UK - has opened entries for the CPA Stars of the Future Awards 2025.
The awards are free to enter and are open to both CPA members and non CPA members. Nominations are welcome from all employers including plant-hire companies, manufacturers, contractors, suppliers and others operating in the construction plant sector with apprentices and trainees in their workforce. Nominees need to be on an approved apprenticeship scheme or an employer in-house learning programme.
To make a nomination, employers can download a nomination form from the CPA website at https://www.cpa.uk.net/skills-training/stars-of-the-future and complete and return it to the CPA by the nomination deadline of 21st March 2025.
The winners will be announced at a prestigious awards ceremony at the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre in Fillongley, near Coventry, on Thursday 10th July 2025. The event will be hosted by construction industry journalist and vlogger Peter Haddock.
Awards will be made for the well-established categories of Plant Mechanic of the Year (Level 2), Plant Technician of the Year (Level 3), Young Plant Operative of the Year, Plant Operative of the Year, Plant Installer of the Year, Lifting Technician of the Year, Hire Controller of the Year, Apprentice Mentor of the Year and College of the Year. All nominees are also eligible for special awards including the Judges’ Special Award and the Best Personal Statement Award.
In recognition of the growth of the awards over the last 12 years, a new awards category has been added for 2025 for Technical Support Person of the Year. This award is for apprentices or trainees who are in a role that has a plant technical focus and who are supporting other plant-focused operations of their business such as data handling and supply, hiring activities, sales and marketing activities, parts and/or resources/equipment supply, machine/equipment systems programming/maintenance, site operational planning, supporting external customers, etc.
Steve Mulholland, CPA Chief Executive Officer said: “We urge employees - both small and large - to nominate apprentices and trainees who they see as being the industry’s future leaders, as it means the world to them to be nominated for an award. The awards are open to all employers across the industry, so nominating organisations needn’t be a CPA member to put someone forward.
“Stars of the Future is becoming more high profile every single year and last year’s winners received national recognition and won some fabulous prizes, including tool kits, machine training courses, iPads, an overseas trip to visit a Liebherr crane manufacturing plant in Germany, another overseas trip to one of Wolffkran’s manufacturing facilities in Luckau, Germany, and a VIP day courtesy of JCB. We know that many previous Stars of the Future winners have been fast-tracked to supervisory and management positions.
“At the CPA, one of our primary objectives is to encourage new blood into the construction plant sector, and Stars of the Future helps us to achieve this. The standard of entries gets higher every year and last year we received 80 nominations from across the industry. We anticipate even more this year,” he added.
Stars of the Future has a two-tier judging process - the CPA selection panel and a panel of external judges from across the industry who decide the eventual winners of each category.
The national winners for Stars of the Future 2024 were Bethan Whittaker of KJ Services and Bridgend College (National Plant Mechanic of the Year); Morgan Wardle of Banks Plant Solutions and Askham Bryan College (National Plant Technician of the Year); Millie Scott-Young of Sunbelt Rentals (Hire Controller of the Year); Josh Jones of L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage (Young Plant Operative of the Year); Reece Stray of L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage (Plant Operative of the Year); Zac Bradshaw of Commhoist (Lifting Technician of the Year) and Hayden Chappell of Southern Hoist Services (Plant Installer of the Year);
Steve Gwynn of Sunbelt Rentals won IIndividual Apprentice Mentor of the Year, Dave Rogers of L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage won Group Apprentice Mentor of the Year, Shannon Weiss of Finning UK and Finning Academy won the Best Personal Statement Award and the Judges’ Special Award was awarded tp Tom Williams of CBL and Bridgend College.
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