Unblock Britain to Unlock Growth
Alan Guthrie reviews the CPA’s 2026 Conference which examined what is hindering the construction industry – and how to get it back on track.
The names and portraits of famous British engineers and entrepreneurs adorn the walls inside the One Great George Street building in London’s Westminster, and as the headquarters of the Institution of Civil Engineers it was a fitting venue for the CPA Conference 2026.
Held on 21 May and attracting almost 150 delegates, its theme was ‘Unlocking the Nation’s Growth Plans’, comprising four sessions exploring current challenges facing the construction industry. It also discussed ways of restoring activity and regaining the progressive spirit of achievement represented by those historic pioneers.
The Conference was hosted by industry journalist Peter Haddock, founder of the Content With Media business.
Opening the event, Steve Mulholland, CPA Chief Executive Officer, said the Association had made significant strides in educating, influencing and campaigning for change amongst regulators and legislators in areas like skills, training, reducing bureaucracy, net zero, legal issues and emerging challenges like rising fuel costs. However, he said, discussions had to be backed by good data, and CPA had commissioned Oxford Economics to produce specialist reports, including ‘The Economic Impact of the UK Construction Plant-hire Sector’, and ‘Half-Built Britain: Unlocking the Nation’s Infrastructure Growth Plans’. A third report on Net Zero will be published shortly.
Steve said that for every £1 spent on construction, £3.30 was generated in the wider economy – a statistic that was mentioned several times during the Conference. He was pleased that CPA now had frequent dialogue with MPs – two of whom spoke at the event.
The first, Richard Fuller, MP for North Bedfordshire and Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, gave the keynote political address. He said that, as the Government is the single largest funder of construction projects in the UK, it was vital for the public sector to maintain close links with the construction industry, especially with so many infrastructure projects in the pipeline and the need for skilled workers to deliver them. However, he felt that the current government put obstacles in the way of progress: project guidelines and tender requirements often reflected political objectives rather than practical delivery. Citing HS2, he said money should not be spent until the project outcomes were specified, and that the private sector also had an important role to play.
Richard Fuller added that many people’s first job was picking up a shovel or pulling a pint, and new recruits should be encouraged into work, rather than being hindered by employers’ restrictions through higher National Insurance payments and Business Property Relief charges. He also said that in the past, a university education had been prioritised over practical experience, and new ways of attracting trainees were needed.
The first Conference session was led by Graham Robinson, Global Infrastructure and Construction Lead at Oxford Economics and entitled ‘Half-Built Britain: Unlocking the Nation’s Infrastructure Growth Plans’ – after the consultancy’s second report for the CPA. Outlining the economic backdrop, he said the consultancy forecast little or no growth in the UK this year, with inflation possibly rising and interest rates not being reduced quickly as a result. The report showed that governments have underinvested in infrastructure development for several decades, leading to transport congestion and delays, unpredictability and wider business pressures. Good infrastructure, he said, was the bedrock of growth but too many projects lacked clear business cases or funding models. He cited the East West Rail link as a prime example.
Contractors and hire companies clearly had important roles to play, and government circles needed to appreciate their particular challenges. Plant-hirers, for example, reinvested 26p of every £1 made back into machinery, and this capital-intensiveness had to be realised by regulation-setters. PPP (public-private partnership) funding arrangements could also be explored to deliver efficiencies.
Session participant Chris Cassley, Policy Director at the CPA, had a number of pleas to governments, the first being for greater consistency: by his reckoning, Construction Ministers had changed every 10 months on average over the past 15 years, so greater stability was needed. Indeed, he believed that an Infrastructure Secretary should be appointed to sit in Cabinet, with a Construction Minister under that post. The role should be solely dedicated to construction rather than split between departments like it currently is. Second, he said fiscal policy should prioritise growth and business investment rather than taxation, and thirdly national planning policy frameworks needed to be decided and acted on to give greater clarity, particularly at local level.
Finally, Chris Cassley wanted more focus on training a skilled workforce: rather than targeting employers with short-term tax increases and minimum wage rises, a long-term vision was needed to recruit and retain people, especially as thousands were retiring or leaving the industry every year.
Cameron Brown, Director at the Charlesbye public affairs and communications consultancy, echoed the call for greater public sector consistency. While Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to have just one Budget event each year theoretically gave more certainty, figures could be revised significantly by the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR), meaning plans would change. Business taxation had to be combined with growth incentives, and employment requirements both current and future had to be addressed. Unemployment challenges could not just be explained away by AI or the conflict in the Middle East, and serious long-term strategies were needed.
Also contributing to this session, Peter Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer with Ainscough Crane Hire, agreed that far greater government focus and clarity were needed. He felt there was no clear pipeline of work and infrastructure investment, leading to delays and reductions in project starts. In many cases, contractors and plant-hirers had investment plans in place and were ready for work, but had no firm idea when exactly projects would start. Greater clarity would give confidence, leading to more investment in people, plant and products.
Chris Matthew, Chief Commercial Officer with Plantforce Rentals, was optimistic since there were many jobs in the pipeline, but pipelines required clear timetables for progress. Often, people focused on the ‘stories’ of a project and its aims, rather than the realistic necessities of delivery. It was also essential to keep in close contact with clients to understand their situation and outlook.
Mark Hoad, Sales and Marketing Director with Sunbelt Rentals UK & Ireland, agreed that there had been a tendency towards short-term government thinking surrounding projects in recent years, leading to delays and investment indecision, especially regarding large ‘mega-projects’ in infrastructure. A business like Sunbelt spent millions annually on equipment, and greater clarity and a longer-term outlook would enable decisions to be made about where the best markets and returns would be, and what machinery to invest in.
The second Conference session looked ahead to future employment requirements. Entitled ‘Building Skills for the Workforce’, it opened with Molly Gill, a Plant Operator with Flannery Plant Hire, recounting her career path and the absolute passion she has now for her job and the industry. Having started in employment as a Nursery Assistant, she had been frustrated by a lack of career progression opportunities.
Recognising her interest in driving and machinery, her father suggested she contacted a plant-hire company, so she rang Flannery directly and after a conversation they invited her to one of the government-funded Bootcamp sessions that the company runs to enable young people to experience using equipment first-hand – and she never looked back. Molly trained on a 30-tonne dumper, the wheels of which were taller than herself, and she realised she had found her career.
Molly was recognised as the Young Plant Operator of the Year in CPA’s Stars of the Future Awards in 2025. She highlighted the plant-hire and construction industry as one of the few where you can leave a lasting impression on the landscape: she is looking forward to telling her children about some of the projects she has worked on (including HS2), and explaining how her operating skills helped achieve the finished results.
Molly believed it was important to take early steps to encourage people into a construction industry career. Decisions were invariably influenced by a person’s immediate environment and the opportunities presented, so if schoolchildren were told about the opportunities offered by modern construction techniques and technology, many might share her enthusiasm and excitement.
Aaron Davis, Safety and Skills Director with Flannery Plant Hire, described the success of the Bootcamp initiatives. In three years, more than 2,500 people have participated, but 85% of them have subsequently not gone on to join Flannery, choosing to go instead to another related business, perhaps in a specific construction sector or in a different area. This was not a major problem in itself, since the overall outcome had been to attract industry entrants, but it again showed the challenges firms face in recruitment and the need for broad, long-term government support.
Aaron also suggested changing how recruitment was talked about: phrases like skill shortages and employment difficulties had negative connotations, so perhaps the focus should be on terms such as skills opportunities and development. The breadth of jobs available should also be highlighted, extending beyond plant operation to include mechanics, HGV drivers, hire desk operatives and HR, as well as new technologies like human form recognition that could create new career openings.
Also in this session, Rob Lynch, Joint Managing Director with L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage, reiterated the importance of government funding. Given the scope and scale of opportunities, individual firms simply could not cover all recruitment and career possibilities. He added that some funding opportunities came with strings attached, such as only being eligible for those out of work for a certain length of time or aimed at people from a specific or under-represented group. It was also important to make it easier for newly qualified operators to gain practical experience on job sites.
Paul Skitt, Managing Director of Business and Skills Support, said that Bootcamp-type initiatives showed how important such projects were as taster opportunities, enabling people to experience the industry at first-hand. As the Conference has discussed earlier, many big infrastructure projects in construction, utilities and energy sectors were in the pipeline, which would need many more skilled operators and technicians. The creation of a government-backed National Infrastructure Fund, led by employers, could help identify these training requirements and deliver them with consistency, stability and flexibility. Paul Skitt suggested that stereotypical construction images of bricklayers and plumbers needed to be replaced with more realistic representations of today’s job sites, and that engagement was needed with schools and colleges. Adults re-training would also have to be accommodated.
Conference Session Three had just one participant, namely Lee Cain, founder of the Charlesbye strategic advisory firm. His topic was ‘Effective Communications in a Crowded Space’ and he was well-qualified, having been Downing Street Director of Communications under Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic. Given the need for hirers, contractors, employers and associations to convey their messages and appeals in a congested media landscape, getting your voice heard was crucial.
Lee Cain said that people were surrounded by more messaging noise that ever before, from TV, radio, podcasts, internet, texts, social media and more, while also being faced with more demands on their time from work and family life. In order to cope, people would filter out what they considered irrelevant or less important, which could lead to messages being missed.
To cut through all this, he said, you had to appreciate what he called the ‘attention economy’ and what made a message valuable to the receiver, especially when individuals typically obtain news and information from 12 different sources daily.
It was essential to understand what you really wanted to convey, and to research public opinion and your target audience. If people believed something, why? And how could you change that perception? Lee Cain said that the government would undertake both qualitative research (focus groups) and quantitative research (polling) to gauge understanding, and then to create a ‘moral story’ to engage with the audience by making the issue direct and meaningful.
There were three key elements, he said, the first being Prioritisation. Mixed or multiple messages would be confusing, so what was your over-riding one? This was reinforced by the second element, Simplification, whereby the message must be clear, concise and not complex. Everyone will remember the government’s focus during the Covid pandemic on taking individual responsibility. The slogan ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ reflected the key components in a direct, straightforward and meaningful way.
Thirdly, it was important to appreciate the power of Repetition. Deviating from a straightforward message would cause confusion in people’s minds and so, in context, variety was harmful rather than beneficial. Campaign discipline through rigorous focus was the differentiating skill. You might think that just by sending your message, people will have read it, but research showed that the proportion of people who remembered seeing it was far smaller than the sender might believe.
Repeating your communication was vital, and it was also important to focus on longer-term persuasion rather than short-term headlines. And by focusing on a moral story and the human element in the message you wanted to convey, your audience would have a greater resonance with it.
The final Conference session focused on ‘Decarbonisation and Preparing for the Future’, and was led by Luis Bassett, CPA’s Decarbonisation and Sustainability Manager. He said climate change was a very real threat: an average global temperature increase of 1.5C took 40 generations in the past, but at present rates the world will have achieved this in just three. This is bringing more land under water, reducing crop growth, harming infrastructure and causing geopolitical tensions. Perhaps more positively, this will create construction demand for flood barriers and similar defences.
Luis advocated a pragmatic approach, suggesting that Net Zero need not be achieved immediately but rather in measured stages with gradual reductions towards the desired target. He said the CPA maintains dialogue with the government and other political parties, and is trying to develop a realistic roadmap for decarbonisation in plant-hire with proportionate controls and measures to help businesses replace capital-intensive machinery as they transition.
Chris Sleight, Managing Director of the Off-Highway Research consultancy, painted a sobering picture showing practical challenges of decarbonisation. Battery-electric machines accounted for only 0.4% of UK construction plant sales in 2025; but in China the figure was 15%, in Norway 9% and in the Netherlands 8%. These other countries, he said, had subsidies in place to help construction equipment owners transition, recognising the financial pressures.
Interestingly, these countries had focused more on the practical air-quality benefits rather than abstract decarbonisation targets, and so perhaps a similar shift in emphasis would be beneficial in the UK. Chris Sleight said that China had also implemented infrastructure developments for adequate on-site heavy machine charging.
Similarly, Steve Moody, Managing Director of SKM Asset Finance and Consultant at Construction Plant Finance, contrasted availability of finance for electric vehicles against that for construction plant. UK electric car sales had risen to a point where assessors now had good insight into long-term vehicle and battery life, enabling them to offer finance packages, but this was not yet widely the case for larger plant, so better support was needed. He said that a Green Growth Guarantee Scheme is being piloted, 70% Government-backed and administered by the British Business Bank to provide targeted funding across a range of sustainable assets. Up to £2 million would be available per business group, on terms from three months to six years. He also mentioned Green Plant Flex scheme for electric plant from Construction Plant Finance, a business contract purchase agreement with low deposit options, low monthly payments and end-of-contract choices including purchasing, returning or upgrading the asset.
Charles Bénard, Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of the Hiboo tech business, described how the company’s digitisation systems allowed construction equipment operators to harness and benefit from telematics data gathered from various machine types, made by different manufacturers. This gave insights into hours worked, idling, under-utilisation and other important parameters, which could be shared with clients. An AI function is being developed, enabling users to interrogate their own data directly.
Joe Gallagher, a Senior Consultant and Partnerships Director with ESG PRO, said that ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) considerations were becoming increasingly important in the contract tendering process, with clients specifying KPIs in contracts to show results, as well as encouraging more local sourcing of products and services. Also, a more common feature of both public and private sector tenders was an element of weighting relating to a contract’s social impact. Embodied carbon, whole-life considerations and digital passports recording a product’s environmental ‘journey’ would also become more important.
Joe Gallagher suggested that a business could start by focusing on more easily achievable targets, such as lowering carbon footprints by looking at aspects of corporate offices, vehicle fleets and supply chain elements where decreases could be made. Creating a solid reduction plan would give an optimum starting point for benchmarking progress.
The Conference was closed by the second MP speaker of the day, Jerome Mayhew, whose constituency in Broadland and Fakenham, and he is also Shadow Minister of State for Transport. He posed a number of rhetorical questions to sum up the frustrations at the heart of the event’s theme of Unlocking the Nation’s Growth Plans, including: How can we respond meaningfully to where the country’s infrastructure needs to be? Why do projects take so long and cost so much (HS2 being a case in point)? Why are projects tagged with fantasy cost estimates? And what exactly do we need to fix?
Jerome Mayhew talked of optimism bias that resulted in poor public sector contract negotiations, which damaged politicians, plant-hirers, contractors and the country. Were certain ESG elements being asked for that were not really necessary, and what do we need to adjust in planning regulation? And what is the balance between protection and progress? He said that he has been tasked with seeking answers during this summer, suggesting that instead of ‘steady as she goes’ we needed ‘scruff of the neck’ politics.
The CPA Conference certainly highlighted major issues in unlocking growth and getting Britain building. Perhaps finding the answers will require minds as innovative and entrepreneurial as those of the famous engineers honoured on the walls of the One Great George Street venue.
FOOTNOTE: Exactly a week after the Conference, new data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that more than a million young people aged 16 to 24 are now not in education, employment or training (Neet). The event clearly identified a major challenge facing the country, and just one of several. Let’s hope actions are taken urgently to start a turnaround.
● Alan Guthrie is a journalist and founder of the industry blog Alan Guthrie On Hire
Exhibition Overview
Unlocking the Potential
A broad range of exhibitors at the CPA Conference promoted products and services to help plant-hirers meet the new challenges identified during the event.
Headline Conference Sponsor Spartan Solutions’ PHALANX software suite enables hire companies to obtain greater functionality from their existing systems and to collect more meaningful data. PHALANX integrates with popular hire management software and its individual elements focus on every aspect of the hire transaction journey, making their current systems work better.
The software can verify and automate essential steps, including: pre-hire checks, equipment repair and testing, transport planning with input for applications like Google Maps, equipment selection, loading and checking delivery vehicles, photo capture on delivery to site, equipment installation, vehicle unloading and breakdown reports, amongst others. Every PHALANX installation is adapted to the specific requirements of individual customers and the system is designed for all sizes of hire operation, from local independents to national groups.
With many aspects of deliveries and other operations being auto-confirmed without human intervention, hire desk staff are freed to focus on customers rather than paperwork, giving greater efficiency and consistency.
Associate Conference Sponsor JCB Insurance offers a complete range that includes Liability Insurance, Plant Insurance and Contractors’ Insurance. All types of plant can be covered and JCB Insurance recently introduced policies for JCB’s hydrogen powered machinery which includes a generator, backhoe loaders and Loadall telescopic handler. Equipment from different manufacturers can be covered and policies are offered to suit companies of all sizes, from SMEs to multi-million pound organisations. Other JCB Insurance products available include motor fleet insurance, car and commercial vehicle insurance for businesses, contractors’ insurance, hired-out plant insurance and bespoke insurance broking services.
ACOP Group are award-winning providers of CPCS plant training, testing and NVQ assessment on all categories of machinery. The company is a one-stop-shop for training and assessment, and combines classroom teaching with hands-on training on equipment like excavators, dozers, forklifts, telescopic handlers, compacting plant, dumpers, cranes and access platforms, amongst others. Courses can be tailored to any ability and level of experience and participants can learn in a friendly atmosphere at ACOP’s dedicated training centre. Learner profiling is undertaken to ensure an excellent learning experience.
CESAR’s ECV emissions compliance verification system is a ‘bolt-on’ product which complements the existing CESAR plant security and theft deterrent system. It is a clear and concise system for easy identification of the emissions stage of a machine. Tamper-evident, colour-coded labels provide quick visual confirmation, combined with a database of detailed machine information, providing site managers assurance that their sites are meeting new emissions standards. The quick-view nature of the system avoids enforcement officers having to spend time inspecting equipment, and it is ideal for plant-hirers with many machines operating on a site. The CESAR Scheme is powered by DATATAG.
Under the Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS), Compass Business Finance can provide finance facilities to smaller businesses who, without it, would not have had sufficient security to access the finance they require. Compass is provided with a Government-backed guarantee for up to 70% of the outstanding balance of eligible facilities; however, the borrower always remains 100% liable for the debt. GGS supports a wide range of finance products, including asset finance, asset-based lending, term loans and invoice finance.
www.compassbusinessfinance.co.uk
The Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) is part of the NOCN Group, an international education charity, creating opportunities through ‘skills solutions’ since 1987. It is responsible for providing scheme administration services to the Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme (CISRS). CPCS aims to deliver schemes of choice, helping people into employment and giving employers, customers and wider society reassurance that a person undertaking an occupation has the relevant knowledge and skills. It facilitates competence card schemes which will set standards and test competencies; promotes participation in the schemes and encourages education and training; improves the quality and flexibility of educational provision; and improves access for operatives to learning opportunities.
https://cpcs.nocn.org.uk/about/
Instagrid’s award-winning hand-portable battery pack can replace a traditional 5kVA generator for on-site power, eliminating noise pollution and local emissions, and is arousing huge interest in the hire industry. The range includes the Instagrid ONE (230V) and Instagrid GO (110V) models, and a GO Rail variant which has Network Rail approval. The Instagrid LINK system enables three 230V units to power three separate devices simultaneously, and the LINK MAX combines three battery packs to provide 400V 3-phase output. Versions are also offered for use by the military and emergency services, and for overseas markets.
Although located near Preston, Myerscough College attracts students on its engineering apprenticeships from Cornwall to Aberdeen, attending on a block-release basis. Level 2 and Level 3 Construction Equipment Maintenance Engineering and Land-Based Engineering courses are amongst those offered, with hands-on workshop learning and training built with employers. The qualifications can help organisations address skills gaps and gives young people an entry into a career that gives employment opportunities in many industry sectors, working on diverse equipment. Myerscough students are frequently honoured in CPA’s annual Stars of the Future Awards, recognising the most promising apprentices in the construction plant industry.
Zone AI by Parksafe Group provides accurate HFR detection to improve the safety of pedestrians operating near mobile plant and reduce on site risk. Using cameras with integrated AI algorithms, Zone AI provides alerts and alarms for both machine operator and pedestrian within preset detection zones, preventing collision or incident. Incidence of detection is automatically pushed to the cloud for immediate access and further action, providing the site supervisor with clear, accurate data of ‘near miss’ so that action can be taken to prevent further events. The system meets MIRA Testing standards and the required specifications for Tier 1 operators.
CPA Conference Media Partner Plant Planet is a one-stop shop for news and information about the world of plant across multiple platforms including print, online, digital and app formats. It covers the latest news, releases and insights from the construction industry to provide readers with impartial information from across the world of heavy machinery. The magazine is aimed at industry professionals and machinery enthusiasts alike, and the publication sees itself as the UK’s number one media hub for up-to-date news, case studies and site visit articles.
