Lifting safety, service and productivity standards across construction

Management

Sponsored by Ainscough

Peter Gibbs, CEO, Ainscough

No infrastructure gets built without cranes. They are critical to the effective delivery of most infrastructure projects, and with recent advances in technology and engineering there are often multiple options to deliver a lift solution, each with different merits and risk, meaning planning is ever more important.

This is where Ainscough comes to the fore, with the largest fleet of cranes in the UK and, more importantly, a workforce with the highest levels of training and experience. As the largest mobile crane provider in the UK, Ainscough is a critical supplier, supporting projects from plan to delivery to ensure the most effective lift solutions.

With the government focusing on infrastructure to drive growth, UK plc’s ability to step up and deliver the significant infrastructure pipeline is critical. Success will not only underpin growth in the short term, but renew an aging infrastructure, positioning the UK as a world leader in AI with a long-term sustainable energy supply network

for the next generation.

Ainscough has made major strides to address the construction industry’s challenge to recruit, train and retain the expertise needed to deliver a growth programme. The company has been included in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work for the past two years, winning numerous awards for safety, technology innovation and training and raising the profile of high-worth careers in lift-related roles.

Being a crane operator is more of a vocation than a job, and the vast majority stay for their career. The role is highly regarded within the sector: it is well paid and operators are likely to be involved in many key projects, building and connecting communities across the UK. As the saying goes, “Do a job you love and you won’t work a day in your life.”

CEO Peter Gibbs spent his early career as an army pilot and sees strong synergies between both roles in terms of professionalism, organisation, process and culture. Much like many roles in the military, working at Ainscough requires teams to work in complete synergy, operate heavy, complex and potentially dangerous pieces of equipment and manage numerous time and operating constraints. Perhaps not surprisingly, over 25 per cent of our people are ex-military; they are a great fit.

Recruitment is the single biggest challenge to the industry right now and is a major risk to UK infrastructure pipeline delivery over the coming years. In 2020, the construction sector saw a substantial drop in activity due to both Covid and Brexit, and the current age profile shows a serious gap in young people joining the sector.

Depressed market conditions and poor confidence in the project pipeline, combined with recent legislative changes in employment rights, are significant blockers to businesses recruiting and training; if the government wants to get growth moving in construction then project planning delays need to be addressed and much-improved support introduced for recruitment and training.

Ainscough was founded 50 years ago and has grown to become the UK’s only national mobile crane provider, with around 900 colleagues operating a fleet of over 300 cranes across 30 depots. The business supports all major infrastructure and industrial sites across the UK, and with safety at the forefront of everything we do, Ainscough has developed to become arguably the leading mobile crane lifting experts worldwide. The business has built on its strong family legacy to continue to lead and move the sector forwards with safety, lift planning and environmental firsts, such as becoming the first UK National Carbon Neutral crane business. Supported by strong IT systems, great data is enabling further step-changes in both safety and productivity, resulting in improved partnerships with customers.

Ainscough has changed the culture and perception of crane hire. Once seen as just a equipment rental service, today it is recognised as a high-value, critical function that can help customers deliver safely, on time and cost-effectively. The company has also opened up significant new revenue channels, from training to wider end-to-end project management of complex lifts. This change has significant wider value and benefits to the construction sector as demand for competent labour and experience grows, particularly across highly technical and specialist roles.

Ainscough’s innovative best practice developments directly support the industry in delivering key projects safely and cost effectively. A focus on sustainability saw the company convert from diesel fuel to HVO, reorganise its depots and employ lighter lifting tackle and the latest technology, leading to a reduction of CO2 of over 90 per cent and delivering the first carbon-neutral crane business in the world.

We have also designed a number of award-winning engineered safety systems (now being adopted UK-wide and beyond), and a digitally supported simple pre-lifting check process estimated to substantially reduce the risk of an incident and help measure lift productivity. This is now being adopted not only as a British standard but also with Tier 1 customers looking to adopt across Europe and the USA.

Ainscough was the first crane provider to adopt a number of safety initiatives which went on to become standard practice across the globe. It introduced the role of the contract lift manager, popularised the use of a specialist lift planner and was the first to adopt tackle boxes to take loose equipment off the deck of the crane.

This culture of innovation and change continues to drive the business and the sector forwards, to ensure we are well placed to help our customers deliver more complex lift solutions. Ainscough’s developments are not only timely but critical if the UK is to effectively deliver the planned infrastructure projects in the pipeline over the next 10 years.

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