Plant & Civil Engineer May-June 2017

There’s a lot of positivity in the air as summer begins to unfold. It’s good to hear that optimism has returned to Northern Ireland’s construction sector, despite Brexit, the General Election and the lack of leadership at Stormont.

As the Regional Director of the Quarry Products Association NI noted, it’s a completely different environment from where we were four to five years ago, and that confidence is reflected on our news pages throughout this issue of Plant & Civil Engineer.

However, there is a  small, but dark cloud on the horizon south of the border that can’t be ignored.  A recent survey by the Ireland Chapter of the Project Management Institute highlighted fears of a skills shortage. The findings on the potential implications of Brexit for Ireland revealed
60% of those surveyed said there are not enough experienced Irish project and programme managers to fulfil
the country’s PM needs across a number of sectors,
including manufacturing and construction.

But back to more positive events: in this issue, we carry a comprehensive preview of Plantworx 2017. Being held in Leicestershire, it has attracted over 360 exhibitors, more than 140 of them making their show debut.  Other shows we cover include CQMS, Vertikal Days and Demo Expo, and we take a look back at a very successful four day Balmoral Show.

We focus, too, on concrete under the theme ‘Concrete Built is Better Built,’ and we report on what’s new in Crushing & Screening and in the world of plant hire, finance and auctions.

In our ‘View from the Cab’ series, we have been hearing about a Liebherr L576 wheel loader, the first of its kind in Ireland, and we profile a number of successful companies, among them Balloo Hire who are celebrating 30 years in business, and Sleator Plant, whose year has got off to a roaring start.

Preparations continue for this year’s Plant & Civil Engineer ‘Plant, Construction & Quarry’ awards and we have a number of exciting new categories; you’ll find all you need to know elsewhere in this issue.

Finally, a reminder about the first ever Plant & Civil Engineer Masters Golf Event at the 5 star Lough Erne Resort on the Faldo Course. It is being staged on Wednesday 21st June 2017. Again, you can find all you need to know about how to take part elsewhere in this issue.

Please click the link below to
download the May-June 2017 issue of Plant & Civil Engineer Magazine.