As National Apprenticeship Week takes place, the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) is reporting ‘phenomenal interest’ in the CPA’s Stars of the Future awards programme for 2022.
The CPA’s Stars of the Future awards 2022 are now open for entries and with around 900 apprentices across the six main plant-based occupations, employers have the opportunity to nominate their outstanding apprentices and trainees who they see as being the construction plant industry’s future leaders.
The nomination deadline is 31st March 2022 and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 7th July 2022 at the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre near Coventry. This year Merryn Myatt will be helping present the Stars of the Future awards. Merryn is a former television presenter, newsreader and journalist who previously worked with the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
Sunbelt Rentals has confirmed it is once again supporting the event through headline sponsorship and there has been a flurry of interest in sponsorship of the various awards categories, highlighting its credibility as the premier event of the construction plant sector for recognising and rewarding the skills and calibre of the industry’s apprentices and trainees.
Stars of the Future is a national awards scheme for apprentices and trainees in the construction plant industry, organised by the CPA, the leading trade association for the plant-hire sector in the UK. The CPA has over 1,800 members who supply some 85% of hired plant to the construction and allied industries.
Nominations are welcomed from training providers and employers including plant-hire companies, manufacturers, contractors, suppliers and others operating in the construction plant sector with apprentices and trainees in their workforce.
2022 marks a landmark year for the CPA’s Stars of the Future awards as it is the tenth year of the awards programme. This year, six national titles will be awarded – Plant Mechanic of the Year (Level 2), Plant Technician of the Year (Level 3), Plant Operative of the Year, Plant Installer of the Year, Lifting Technician of the Year and Hire Controller of the Year – as well as some special awards.
Last year 70 candidates were put forward from across the industry for a Star of the Future nomination, and the CPA anticipates even more nominations this year. Nomination forms can be downloaded from the CPA website at www.cpa.uk.net/skills-training/stars-of-the-future. Stars of the Future winners will be in contention for a number of prizes, as well as national recognition. Previous prizes have included Snap-on tool kits, iPads and an all-expenses paid trip to Germany to visit a Liebherr crane manufacturing plant.
Stars of the Future is just one of the events the CPA is hosting this year. Following the very successful CPA Conference hosted in October 2021, this year’s CPA Conference will take place on 20th October 2022, also at the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre near Coventry. The 2021 event saw leading figures from the plant-hire industry and stakeholders from across construction and government discuss two key issues impacting the plant-hire industry: the race to net zero and digitalisation. Further details on this year’s topic will be announced soon.
