The future of the construction plant industry is in safe hands judging by the outstanding quality of the entrants at this year’s Stars of the Future awards hosted by the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) on 11th July 2024.

A total of 80 nominations were received for the CPA Stars of the Future apprentice and trainee awards 2024. The awards identify some of the industry’s brightest up-and-coming talent and its future leaders across various occupations including Plant Mechanics, Plant Technicians, Hire Controllers, Lifting Technicians, Plant Installers, Plant Operatives and Young Plant Operatives, as well as those who mentor the apprentices.

Almost 300 people attended the awards ceremony which was hosted at the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre in Fillongley, near Coventry, by former TV newsreader, presenter and journalist Merryn Myatt. This was the 12th year of the acclaimed apprentice awards and this year’s nominations were judged by a total of 13 judges from the CPA and across the industry.

The CPA is the leading trade association for the construction plant sector in the UK, with over 1,900 members who supply around 85% of hired plant to the construction industry. The awards ceremony was held in association with event sponsors GAP Group and L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage, and award sponsors and supporters ACOP Group, JCB, Liebherr, L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage, M O'Brien Plant Hire, NOCN Group, Plant Planet, Southern Hoist Services, Sunbelt Rentals and Wolffkran.

On the day, the winners of each national category were as follows:

• National Plant Mechanic of the Year (Level 2) - Bethan Whittaker of KJ Services and Bridgend College
• National Plant Technician of the Year (Level 3) - Morgan Wardle of Banks Plant Solutions and Askham Bryan College
• Hire Controller of the Year - Millie Scott-Young of Sunbelt Rentals
• Young Plant Operative of the Year - Josh Jones of L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage
• Plant Operative of the Year - Reece Stray of L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage
• Lifting Technician of the Year - Zac Bradshaw of Commhoist
• Plant Installer of the Year - Hayden Chappell of Southern Hoist Services
• Individual Apprentice Mentor of the Year - Steve Gwynn of Sunbelt Rentals
• Group Apprentice Mentor of the Year - Dave Rogers of L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage
• Best Personal Statement Award - Shannon Weiss of Finning UK and Finning Academy
• Judges’ Special Award - Tom Williams of CBL and Bridgend College 

Stars of the Future was originally introduced to recognise outstanding Apprentice Plant Mechanics and Plant Technicians, but the scope of the event has been extended over the years to reward other job roles in the construction plant sector. It is now widely recognised as the sector’s premier event for recognising and rewarding trainees and apprentices who are earmarked as future leaders of the industry.

CPA President Brian Jones said: “Stars of the Future is one of the CPA’s flagship events and one that we’re very proud of. We’d like to congratulate all the nominees and winners - it’s a tremendous achievement in itself for apprentices to be nominated by their employer or training provider for a Star of the Future award. Testimony to the success of the awards is that many previous Stars of the Future award winners have gone on to secure senior positions in the construction plant industry.

“We would like to thank all our sponsors, without whom we simply could not stage such an event or reward our winners so considerably. Award winners received 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. Special thanks also go to each and every one of our 13 judges for the time they took in going through all the nominations so thoroughly,” he continued.

 

Stars of the Future had a two-tier judging process - the CPA selection panel and a panel of external judges who decided the eventual winners of each category. The external judging panel included Arran Willis of Liebherr-GB, Siôn Morgan Jones of ACOP Group, Kirsty Archbold-Laming of Southern Hoist Services, Leigh Sparrow of Vertikal Press, Graham Black of Earthmovers Magazine, Tim Brownbridge of BAM Nuttall, independent judge Rob Allen, Georgina Williams of JCB and Sean Scarah of Balfour Beatty.

Graham Black, Editor of Earthmovers Magazine, who was part of the external judging panel, said: “It was a genuine honour to be asked to be a CPA Stars of the Future judge once again and the quality of the candidates was exceptional this year. Our job as judges was to identify the mega stars of the future and what often separates these high-achieving individuals is their video submission that they submit as part of their nomination. 

“One of the reasons for this long-standing event is to attract more Plant Mechanics, Plant Technicians, Plant Operators and other occupations into our industry. Stars of the Future has been a great success and it was fantastic to see so many outstanding individuals in the room during the awards ceremony,” he continued.

The complete list of Stars of the Future 2024 category winners and those who were highly commended is as follows:

Plant Mechanic of the Year - North
Sam Ellis, Flannery Civil Engineering, Askham Bryan College - Winner

Plant Mechanic of the Year - Midlands
Luke Sutton, Synergy Hire, National Construction College East - Winner
Luke Divit, Marubeni-Komatsu, NSCG Stafford College - Highly Commended
Tyler Hartles, Marubeni-Komatsu, NSCG Stafford College - Highly Commended

Plant Mechanic of the Year - South
Josh Thomas, Liebherr-GB, NSCG Stafford College - Winner
Joe Mustey, Earlcoate Construction & Plant Hire, National Construction College East - Highly Commended
Luke Piggott, Vp Brandon Hire Station, Myerscough College - Highly Commended
Mike Kinnane, Sunbelt Rentals, Myerscough College - Highly Commended                  

Plant Mechanic of the Year - Scotland
Kai Blackburn, Ord Industrial & Commercial Supplies, National Construction College Scotland - Winner
Leeona McEwan, GAP Group, National Construction College Scotland - Highly Commended                                 

Plant Mechanic of the Year - Wales   
Bethan Whittaker, KJ Services, Bridgend College - Winner
Ethan Williams, KJ Services, Bridgend College - Highly Commended 

National Plant Mechanic of the Year               
Bethan Whittaker, KJ Services, Bridgend College - Winner
Josh Thomas, Liebherr-GB, NSCG Stafford College - Highly Commended                                     

Plant Technician of the Year - North 
Morgan Wardle, Banks Plant Solutions, Askham Bryan College - Winner
Ethan Hopwood, Allan J Hargreaves Plant Engineers Ltd, Preston College - Highly Commended
Thomas Joynt, Sunbelt Rentals, Myerscough College - Highly Commended
Subhaan Nawaz, Bachy Soletanche, Midland Group Training Services - Highly Commended

Plant Technician of the Year - Midlands
Courtney Price, SMT, Reaseheath College - Winner
Shannon Weiss, Finning UK, Finning Academy - Highly Commended
Oliver Voss, Watling JCB, National Construction College East - Highly Commended
Owen Van Greuning, Marubeni-Komatsu, NSCG Stafford College - Highly Commended                              

Plant Technician of the Year - South 
Harry Totman, Liebherr-GB, NSCG Stafford College - Winner
Thomas Fuentes-Moreno, Vp Brandon Hire Station, Myerscough College - Highly Commended
Jack Southam, Southern Cranes & Access, National Construction College East - Highly Commended   

Plant Technician of the Year - Scotland
Louie Masson, Pat Munro (Alness), National Construction College Scotland - Winner                              

Plant Technician of the Year - Wales
Tom Williams, CBL, Bridgend College - Winner              

National Plant Technician of the Year            
Morgan Wardle, Banks Plant Solutions, Askham Bryan College - Winner
Courtney Price, SMT, Reaseheath College - Highly Commended
Harry Totman, Liebherr-GB, NSCG Stafford College - Highly Commended

Hire Controller of the Year     
Millie Scott-Young, Sunbelt Rentals - Winner
Lauren Jobson, Sunbelt Rentals - Highly Commended                             

Young Plant Operative of the Year
Josh Jones, L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage - Winner
Lewis Ensor, L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage - Highly Commended

Plant Operative of the Year
Reece Stray, L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage - Winner    

Lifting Technician of the Year
Zac Bradshaw, Commhoist - Winner   

Plant Installer of the Year
Hayden Chappell, Southern Hoist Services - Winner
Arran Heath, Wolffkran - Highly Commended                                             

Individual Apprentice Mentor of the Year
Steve Gwynn, Sunbelt Rentals - Winner
Bill Munday, Earlcoate Construction & Plant Hire - Highly Commended
Tony Jenkins, Marubeni-Komatsu - Highly Commended                          

Group Apprentice Mentor of the Year
Dave Rogers, L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage - Winner
Jo Stamp, Sunbelt Rentals - Highly Commended                        

College of the Year
Bridgend College - Winner
Myerscough College - Highly Commended                                   

Best Personal Statement Award
Shannon Weiss, Finning UK, Finning Academy - Winner                           

Award for Future International Development
Courtney Price, SMT, Reaseheath College - Winner

Judges’ Special Award
Tom Williams, CBL, Bridgend College - Winner