Dig In Deep

SELF DRIVE OR OPERATED? Which really makes more sense in plant hire? 🚜**This week on the **Dig In Deep Podcast, Mark Kennedy hosts the debate around one of the biggest decisions in plant and equipment hire — self-drive vs operated hireOn the surface, it sounds simple. Send the machine out on self-drive and let the customer provide the operator, or supply your own experienced operator and charge accordingly.But which model actually works best when you dig into the numbers?Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt and Liam Moore get into the real-world arguments around *plant hire profitability, utilisation, operator costs, productivity, machine damage, responsibility, customer relationships and the growing shortage of skilled plant operators.We ask:🚜 Does self-drive actually produce a better return on the machine?👷 Is a great operator worth more than having the latest equipment?💷 Does the extra revenue from operated hire really become extra profit?🔧 Who looks after the machine better — your operator or the customer's?⚠️ Who carries the responsibility when something goes wrong on site?📈 Can an operator actually become one of a hire company's best salespeople?👷‍♂️ Are we short of operators — or just short of good** operators?🤖 And with machine control, automation and remote operation developing quickly, will every machine even need someone sitting in the cab in the future?Then we put Mark and Liam on the spot: if it was their own money and they were starting a plant hire company tomorrow, would they build a self-drive or operated fleet?If you work in plant hire, construction, equipment rental, earthmoving, demolition, civil engineering or heavy equipment, we want to hear your experience.👇 SELF DRIVE OR OPERATED — which would you choose and why?Subscribe to **Dig In Deep** for straight-talking conversations about plant hire, construction, business and the people behind the industry.#PlantHire #Construction #SelfDriveHire #OperatedPlant #EquipmentRental #HeavyEquipment #Excavators #PlantOperators #ConstructionIndustry #PlantMachinery #Earthmoving #DigInDeepPodcast #Business #PlantHireUK

Every day, thousands of trucks move construction equipment around the UK — excavators, dumpers, rollers, telehandlers and access equipment.But how many of those journeys are actually efficient?A machine gets delivered 50 miles from the depot… and the truck travels 50 miles back empty. A low-loader carries one small machine when it could potentially carry more. Two trucks pass each other going in opposite directions — one delivering and one collecting.In this episode of the Dig In Deep Podcast, Mark Kennedy is joined by Liam Moore and Mark Scutt to dig into one of the biggest hidden costs in plant hire and construction logistics:💨 HOW MUCH AIR ARE WE ACTUALLY TRANSPORTING?We discuss:🚛 Empty running and wasted HGV mileage🏗️ Why plant hire transport is so difficult to optimise💷 Why moving a digger can cost hundreds of pounds⛽ Fuel, drivers, tyres, maintenance and the true cost of transport🔄 Why backloading doesn't happen more often📍 The problem with customers demanding exact delivery times🚚 Trucks passing each other while travelling half-empty🤖 Whether AI could transform plant transport planning📱 Could there be an “Uber for diggers”?💰 Should flexible deliveries be cheaper?🌱 The environmental impact of unnecessary transport movements🏗️ Whether competing plant hire companies could share transport capacityWe spend huge amounts of money developing cleaner construction equipment — Stage V engines, electric machines, HVO, telematics and reduced idle times.But are we overlooking the truck that delivered the machine?If a low-loader travels 60 miles to deliver an excavator and then drives 60 miles home empty, we've moved the machine 60 miles — but the truck has travelled 120.Some empty running will always be unavoidable.But how much could better planning, shared transport, backloads, customer flexibility, technology and AI eliminate?PLUS…😂 Man Named🧠 Quiz of the Week🎙️ Construction and plant hire stories, opinions and the usual Dig In Deep debate.We want to hear from transport managers, plant hire companies, drivers, hauliers and construction companies.👇 HOW MUCH EMPTY RUNNING DO YOU THINK COULD ACTUALLY BE ELIMINATED?And would you accept a wider delivery window if it meant cheaper transport?Drop your thoughts and experiences in the comments.🎙️ DIG IN DEEP PODCASTConstruction. Plant Hire. Business. People. Stories. Opinions. And plenty of laughs.Subscribe for new episodes, clips and Shorts.#DigInDeep #PlantHire #Construction #Transport #Logistics #ConstructionIndustry #PlantMachinery #HeavyHaulage #LowLoader #HGV #Haulage #ConstructionLogistics #PlantTransport #Excavators #HeavyEquipment #FleetManagement #TransportManagement #Backloading #ArtificialIntelligence #ConstructionPodcast

What actually happens to a digger when a UK plant hire company sells it?In this episode of the Dig In Deep Podcast, Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt and Liam Moore follow the journey of used construction equipment after it leaves the hire fleet — from UK auctions and second-hand buyers to machines exported across Europe, the USA, Africa and beyond.We look at the huge global market for used excavators and construction machinery, what determines the residual value of a machine, and whether UK plant hire companies are replacing equipment far earlier than they really need to.That leads to a bigger question: if we're serious about sustainability and reducing carbon emissions, does continually manufacturing new equipment and disposing of perfectly usable three-to-five-year-old machines actually make environmental sense?The team also discusses machine hours, service history, maintenance, emissions regulations, auctions, export markets and whether the sale of used equipment plays a much bigger part in plant hire profitability than many people realise.Plus, Liam and Mark go head-to-head in Week Two of the Dig In Deep Quiz — The Price Is Wrong — attempting to guess the prices of JCBs, Kubotas, dumpers, telehandlers, excavator parts and an enormous 800-tonne Liebherr mining excavator.🎙️ In this episode:• Where do Britain's used diggers actually go?• Who buys ex-hire construction equipment?• Are UK hire companies replacing machines too early?• How important are hours, condition and service history?• Do auctions make more money from disposal than hire companies?• Is constantly renewing fleets really sustainable?• How much profit comes from hiring machines versus eventually selling them?• What would you look for when buying a used excavator?• And just how much does an 800-tonne mining excavator cost?If you work in plant hire, construction equipment, machinery sales, fleet management or the wider construction industry, we'd love to hear your experience.Where do your old machines end up — and should we be keeping them for longer?Subscribe to Dig In Deep for straight-talking conversations about plant hire, construction, business, people and the issues affecting the industry.#DigInDeep #PlantHire #Construction #ConstructionEquipment #HeavyEquipment #Excavators #PlantMachinery #EquipmentRental #UsedEquipment #FleetManagement #Sustainability #PlantSales #JCB #Kubota #HeavyMachinery

How much is your business really worth — and would a buyer actually pay the number you have in your head?In this episode of the Dig In Deep Podcast, Liam Moore puts the questions to Mark Kennedy as they dig into business valuation, preparing a company for sale and the things that can dramatically increase — or destroy — the value of a business.Using construction and plant hire businesses as practical examples, they look beyond the simple idea of multiplying EBITDA by four or five and calling that the valuation.They discuss:• The different ways to value a business• EBITDA multiples and maintainable earnings• Why two businesses with identical EBITDA can be worth completely different amounts• How to value a plant hire or asset-heavy company• Fleet values, asset registers and depreciation• Why you can't simply add the value of your machinery to an EBITDA valuation• Cash, debt and working capital• Customer concentration and recurring revenue• Owner dependency and why it can reduce your multiple• What buyers actually investigate during due diligence• The records and paperwork businesses often get badly wrong• What makes a buyer reduce their offer — or walk away completely• Why cutting investment before a sale can actually reduce business value• How far in advance you should prepare a company for sale• What to start doing today if you want to sell your business in three yearsThe big question isn't simply:“What is my business worth?”It's:“What would make somebody want to buy my business — and what would make them confident enough to pay more for it?”This episode is sponsored by Built By ME Group, creators of the Business Value Index™ — a structured approach to understanding the factors that create, protect and potentially increase the value of a business.The Business Value Index™ looks beyond a headline valuation to examine areas including financial performance, assets, customer concentration, management strength, owner dependency, systems and processes, recurring revenue, risk, growth and overall saleability.Whether you're thinking about selling a plant hire company, construction business, family business or SME, planning succession, considering an acquisition or simply want to build a stronger and more valuable company, this episode is worth a listen.🎙️ Dig In Deep PodcastConstruction. Plant Hire. Business. Opinions. Stories. And the occasional bit of absolute nonsense.Subscribe and let us know in the comments: if you were offered the right money tomorrow, would you sell your business?#BusinessValuation #SellingABusiness #PlantHire #ConstructionBusiness #EBITDA #BusinessValue #BusinessForSale #DueDiligence #Entrepreneur #SME #BusinessOwner #DigInDeepPodcast

Dig In Deep Podcast – This Week’s Episode 🚜🎙️When construction goes wrong… it REALLY goes wrong.This week on Dig In Deep, Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt and Liam Moore take a look at the spectacular, expensive and sometimes unbelievable moments when construction projects don’t quite go according to plan.From construction disasters and massive cost overruns to the mistakes, decisions and cock-ups that left everyone asking: How did that happen?But it wouldn’t be Dig In Deep without things going completely off track.😂 Funny stories from construction🚧 Construction going seriously wrong💰 Projects that blew their budgets🧠 Quiz of the Week – Liam vs Mark Scutt❓ Will Mark Scutt actually come back next week?🤣 More “Man Be Called…” jokes🎙️ And plenty of opinions, arguments and good craic along the wayIt’s construction and plant hire without the corporate script — real conversations, real opinions and stories from people who actually work in the industry.Whether you’re an excavator operator, plant hirer, contractor, construction business owner, site manager, engineer or simply love heavy machinery and construction stories, Dig In Deep is for you.Subscribe to Dig In Deep and join Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt and Liam Moore every week as we dig into the people, stories, news and issues shaping construction and plant hire.🎧 Dig In Deep PodcastConstruction | Plant Hire | Industry News | Opinions | Stories | Good Craic#DigInDeep #DigInDeepPodcast #ConstructionPodcast #Construction #PlantHire #UKConstruction #ConstructionIndustry #HeavyEquipment #Excavators #ConstructionFails #ConstructionDisasters #ConstructionStories #PlantHireUK #ConstructionNews #ConstructionLife #HeavyMachinery #Podcast #QuizOfTheWeek

DIG IN DEEP IS TWO YEARS OLD! 🎉🚜Two years of construction, plant hire, big opinions, brilliant guests, serious industry conversations and plenty of laughs.For this special anniversary episode, Liam Moore turns interviewer as he sits down with Mark Kennedy and Mark Scutt to look back at the first two years of the Dig In Deep Podcast.How did the podcast start? What did Mark K and Mark S expect when they first got behind the microphones? What have they learned along the way? Which guests and conversations have stood out? What has changed over the last two years? And where does Dig In Deep go next?We also look back at some of the fantastic guests who have joined us along the way:From construction and plant hire to business, leadership, careers, technology, industry challenges and the changing face of construction, Dig In Deep has always been about real conversations with people who know the industry.There have been strong opinions, disagreements, brilliant stories, serious subjects and plenty of moments that definitely weren’t in the original run sheet.Two years. Three hosts. Brilliant guests. Hundreds of conversations. And we’re only getting started.A huge thank you to everyone who has watched, listened, subscribed, commented, shared an episode, appeared as a guest or supported Dig In Deep over the last two years.Here’s to Year Three. 🍻🚜🎙️ Mark Kennedy | Mark Scutt | Liam Moore🎧 Dig In Deep PodcastConstruction | Plant Hire | Business | Industry News | Stories | Opinions | Good CraicSubscribe and join us as we continue digging deeper into the people, businesses and stories shaping the construction and plant hire industries.#DigInDeep #DigInDeepPodcast #ConstructionPodcast #PlantHire #ConstructionUK #PlantHireUK #ConstructionIndustry #HeavyEquipment #Excavators #ConstructionLife #ConstructionBusiness #UKConstruction #ConstructionNews #Podcast #TwoYearAnniversary

The UK construction industry has a major skills shortage, an ageing workforce and a constant demand for skilled plant operators. Yet women remain dramatically underrepresented behind the controls of excavators, dumpers, dozers and other construction equipment.In this episode of Dig In Deep, Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt and Liam Moore ask why.Women make up around 15% of the UK construction workforce, but historical figures for plant and mobile-machine operators have put female representation at only around 2%. At the same time, CITB forecasts that UK construction will need around **206,000 additional workers between 2026 and 2030**.So are we really suffering from a shortage of people — or is construction still recruiting from too small a section of the population?We discuss:• Why so few women become excavator and plant operators• The UK construction skills shortage• The ageing plant operator workforce• Whether women actually want careers operating heavy equipment• Apprenticeships and attracting the next generation• Site culture, welfare facilities and PPE• How technology has changed the role of the modern machine operator• Whether plant hire companies are doing enough to recruit women• Female-only training programmes — good idea or unnecessary?• What the industry could realistically do to change the numbersPlus, we break up the serious stuff with **Man Be Called** and another round of Quiz of the Week – Liam Moore vs Mark Scutt.Dig In Deep is the construction and plant hire podcast bringing together real industry experience, statistics, opinions, debate and plenty of laughs.If you work in construction, demolition, groundworks, civil engineering, plant hire or heavy equipment — join the conversation in the comments:**Would you encourage your daughter to become an excavator operator?**And in 2035, if there are ten excavators working on a major UK construction site, how many do you think will have a woman behind the controls?Subscribe to Dig In Deep for more straight-talking conversations from the construction and plant hire industry.#DigInDeep #WomenInConstruction #PlantHire #Construction #ExcavatorOperator #PlantOperator #HeavyEquipment #ConstructionIndustry #SkillsShortage #ConstructionCareers #WomenInPlant #Excavators #PlantMachinery #ConstructionPodcast #UKConstruction

Construction and plant hire can be serious business — big machines, big money, tight deadlines and plenty of pressure.But it can also be absolutely bloody hilarious.In this Dig In Deep Podcast Special, Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt and Liam Moore forget about fleet utilisation, EBITDA and industry strategy and instead dig into the funniest stories, characters, one-liners and complete disasters from construction sites and plant yardsFrom apprentices being sent on impossible errands and jobs going spectacularly wrong, to legendary site banter, graffiti disasters and the sort of characters you simply couldn't invent, this episode celebrates the lighter side of working in construction.We also tackle a surprisingly interesting question:Have construction sites become too professional for some of this stuff to happen anymore?Expect plenty of laughs, questionable language, classic construction one-liners and stories that probably shouldn't have happened in the first place.And we want yours.What's the funniest thing you've ever seen on a construction site, in a plant yard, workshop or out on delivery?Drop it in the comments — change the names and protect the guilty. The best could make it into Funniest Stories From Construction – Part Two.🎙️ Featuring:Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt & Liam Moore🎧 Podcast: Dig In Deep🏗️ Topics: Construction | Plant Hire | Construction Stories | Site Banter | Plant & Equipment | Construction Industry | Funny Construction Stories#DigInDeep #Construction #PlantHire #ConstructionLife #ConstructionIndustry #HeavyEquipment #PlantAndMachinery #SiteLife #ConstructionHumour #Podcast #UKConstruction

🏆 THE RYDER CUP OF PLANT HIRE — EUROPE vs USA | THE FINALSix holes remain. Europe needs a comeback. And some of the biggest questions in plant hire are still to be answered.In the final part of The Ryder Cup of Plant Hire, Mark Kennedy and Mark Scutt take Europe and the USA through Holes 13–18: Sales, Used Equipment & Residual Values, Acquisitions & Consolidation, Specialist Rental, Sustainability and Independents.Who sells rental better? Who gets the best return when equipment leaves the fleet? Have American companies mastered plant hire M&A? Does Europe have the stronger specialist rental sector? Who is genuinely leading on sustainable equipment? And most importantly for owner-managed businesses — where is it better to build a successful independent hire company?After 18 holes we reveal the final result:🇺🇸 USA 10 — 8 EUROPE 🇪🇺But the score isn't the final question.We finish the Ryder Cup with the £100 MILLION QUESTION:If you had £100m of your own money and had to invest it in equipment rental for the next ten years, would you back the European model or the American model — and what kind of rental business would you build?Across all three episodes we've looked beyond fleet size and turnover to profitability, utilisation, rates, technology, people, acquisitions, specialist rental, sustainability and shareholder returns.If you own, manage, invest in, supply or work in plant hire and equipment rental, this is a debate worth joining.🎙️ Dig In Deep — The Voice of the Plant Hire IndustryTopics include: plant hire, equipment rental, construction equipment, rental sales, used equipment, residual values, plant hire acquisitions, M&A, specialist rental, sustainable construction equipment, independent hire companies, United Rentals, Sunbelt Rentals, Herc, Loxam and Boels.#PlantHire #EquipmentRental #ConstructionEquipment #PlantEquipment #RentalIndustry #MergersAndAcquisitions #Sustainability #DigInDeep

The battle between European plant hire and the US equipment rental industry continues.After six holes, Team USA leads — but Part 2 moves into some of the biggest operational questions facing modern rental businesses.Mark Kennedy and Mark Scutt take on Customer Service, Transport & Logistics, Damage & Waivers, Technology, Depot Models and People & Productivity.Who delivers the better customer experience? Are hire companies recovering the true cost of transport and equipment damage? Has America moved ahead on rental technology, telematics and AI? Are European local depot networks better than American mega-branches? And which market generates the most revenue and profit from every employee?We use real company examples and industry data from major operators including United Rentals, Loxam and Boels to give both Europe and the USA the strongest possible case before scoring each hole.By the end of Hole 12, America leads Europe 7½–4½ — but six points remain and some of Europe's strongest categories are still to come.This isn't simply about deciding whether Europe or America is better. It's about identifying the ideas, systems and operating practices that could make any plant hire or equipment rental business better.🎙️ Dig In Deep — The Voice of the Plant Hire IndustryTopics include: plant hire, equipment rental, customer service, rental transport, damage waiver, telematics, AI in equipment rental, rental technology, depot strategy, revenue per employee, fleet productivity, United Rentals, Loxam, Boels and construction equipment.#PlantHire #EquipmentRental #RentalTechnology #ConstructionEquipment #FleetManagement #AI #Telematics #DigInDeep