Regimented Help for Industry Skills Gap.

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A new pioneering initiative from leading recruitment solution provider 365 Recruit will see fully trained Army reservist plant operators, from AmeyBriggs Services Ltd, made available to work on projects right across the UK.

AmeyBriggs has been contracted since 2022 to manage and maintain plant and equipment in addition to providing trained plant operators to the Ministry of Defence, wherever British troops are deployed around the world.

These reservists, who number up to seventy, are in a 2-year program and are employed full time by the company who during that period train the reservist to industry standards.
The team of reservists are made available via flexible licence, for periods from a few weeks to six months, to hirers and contractors to supplement their existing work force.

The situation has arisen, as demand for the reservists has reduced, due to operational deployment of plant and equipment in areas of conflict such as Ukraine, where the Royal Engineers or ‘Sappers,’ are working full time, thus reducing the demand for the reservists.
Each plant operator is trained and competent on a minimum five pieces of construction machinery to NPORS CSCS standard. With excavators, dozers, articulated dump trucks, wheeled loaders and tele-handlers as the machines being prioritised. A comprehensive matrix shows where operators are located, the skill set acquired, and experience gained, with an experience log providing further data on the actual hours worked on each machine.

Supported by Hawkstone Plant Services, Neil Liley and Adam Raybould, MD, of 365 Recruit have joined forces to offer this new proposition.
Neil Liley said, “I had a relationship with ALC, the organisation that precedes AmeyBriggs, so when the new organisation was looking to go to market and place their plant operators in civilian roles, they reached out.”
Neil continued…” We now have a formal agreement in place and are ready to support the industry with the provision of these people, all of whom I know, will be a great asset to any site they work on.”

The situation is clearly a win, win, with the plant operator reservists furthering their skill set and experience, whilst demand from the armed forces is low. In addition, hirers and contractors around the country can tap into this ‘regimented force’ of experience to support their projects, safe in the knowledge that this well trained, experienced team will be an asset to their business.
At the same time companies that do engage will be doing good, by supporting this group of plant operator reservists who will, in time, be back on the front line armed with the experience they will have gained from working on civilian projects within the construction and plant hire industry.

Adam Raybould said “The regimented nature of the work these people are trained to do means that will turn up on time, listen, engage and respond… All to ensure the job gets done safely and on time. Many of the reservists come from a construction background with years of previous experience and knowledge, not only on a variety of machines but working hands-on in a heavy plant construction environment.

Concluding Adam said “Whilst the reservists will all have differing levels of specialisms and experience, AmeyBriggs recognises that their operators will all gain valuable on-site experience, with both the contractor and operator benefiting from an operational and financial perspective. The team have a can-do attitude and will add value to any project they are asked to work on. All secure in the knowledge that they can be recruited for work with no recall from the MOD for up to 6-months.”

It was a pleasure to meet with Adam and Neil, this really does look like a great initiative that will add value on so many levels. We wish them, and more importantly perhaps, the new team of plant operators that, from quite diverse backgrounds and projects, will all get the chance to work on site, in the UK for the good of the industry.