The pressure from Brexit and Covid led to significant numbers leaving the UK construction sector, which combined with a generally aged workforce, is creating a substantial constraint to the UK’s ability to safely deliver the construction program we expect to see over the next few years. This is also a challenge to Ainscough, but one they have mitigated with a range of initiatives from proactive engagement with the Union, to building best-in-sector T&Cs, development of sector-leading training, the best PPE, well-maintained cranes, and ultimately by putting their people at the heart of their proposition: Ainscough is a lift service business, so it is the depth and competency of its people that is their key selling point. The company has further raised the bar with respect to training standards, with a wider focus on apprentices (Gold standard in the 5% Apprentice Club), actively engages ex-services colleagues (Gold standard in the Military Covenant scheme), and this year was rated as a Sunday Times Top place to work.

At the board level, the seemingly continual disruption UK PLC (including Ainscough) has experienced since 2020 when Covid first hit, has been a significant challenge to planning market demand with any reasonable level of confidence, in turn making it a challenge to align long-term investment in people and equipment to support major projects. “It has not just been Covid but supply chain disruptions, War in Ukraine and Gaza, UK political instability, and inflation, to name just a few,” says Peter. “There is a famous quote that ‘There are decades when nothing happens and years when decades happen.’ Since 2020, we have experienced five years of constant disruption, and a period of stability for the next few years would be welcome!”

In the long term, Peter seesgrowth in demand for environmentally sustainable construction processes and associated Scope 3 reporting. Ainscough has taken the lead in this area with a range of initiatives from a UK-wide operational re-organization to remove over 25% of their annual mileage, investing in the latest crane technology, and implementing a full UK wider Green HVO network, which combined has enabled them to reduce their carbon emissions from over 20 million Kg CO2 by c95%.

Being A Successful Organization& Leader

According to Peter, building success in Ainscough has been a multiyear journey. “The fundamentals of the business were always sound, the transformation has been to re-position the business and focus on those areas that clearly differentiate us,” he says. “This has required a significant cultural shift, which is an evolutionary process. It takes time to build confidence, trust, and belief when you make a significant change to long-standing practices, but get these fundamentals right, and the changes will stick, momentum will build, and we are now reaping the benefits.” The company had witnessed 80% of the key actions behind its change plan in place within six months and was seeing dramatic improvement in its bottom line from the second year, which has subsequently maintained a similar rate of improvement, supported by ongoing innovation and best practice initiatives.

Under Peter’s guidance, the company has seen expediential growth. To be a successful leader, hisadvisewould be to focus on four core things: Firstly, “Grit and hard work; you get out what you put in, and your personal drive and energy levels set the tone for the team.” Next, hebelieves you need to have a clear and ambitious Vision with an equally clear plan, then focus on it, and sell it with passion. Your passion, belief, and clarity of vision will directly impact on your colleagues and your customer’s engagement in the journey.

Third bit of advice; “Whilst your vision should be long term, you need to routinely review your plans and be prepared to adjust to reflect real life experience to ensure they remain optimal; “I like to use the OODA loop model (Observe, Orientate, Decide, Act) as a framework to continuously circle all aspects of the business and ensure we quickly and effectively identify and respond to real-life experience …. It works for me” he states. Finally, “Have strong review processes and clear measurement tools to ensure your plans are both delivered at pace, embedded, and sustained. If you do not wrap your plans into a strong process, you run the risk of focus switching from one thing to another and nothing fully completing or embedding.”

For Peter, communication is the key that wraps around everything, and it needs to be a 360-degree activity, enabling you to keep everyone informed and genuinely engaged in the journey.

Towards A Bright Future

Ainscough has a range of USPs, and the most obvious is that Ainscough is the only truly national lifting business in the UK. While all cranes can travel, this takes time and is very expensive, and if they are a long way from support, then any issue is slow and difficult to fix. Ainscough is within 40 miles of 90% of their lifts across the UK, with every depot having planning, engineering, and operator support; this means when issues occur, they can resolve them far faster than a remote provider.  

The company’s unrivaled delivery capability is similarly supported by best-in-class planning and customer reporting functionality that give customers real confidence that they have the best lift solution, with the best-trained teams and the highest standards of equipment. This is supported by real-time data that customers can access to support easy ordering, tracking of every crane, show crane efficiency, scope three reporting, certification, and safety check confirmation, meaning Ainscough is able to give its customers an unrivaled end-to-end service.

With their crane supplier partner, Liebherr, Ainscough has delivered significant AI-supported features supporting planning, safety, and cost-efficiency benefits. These initiatives are strongly enhanced by running a Liebherr-only fleet, enabling benefits and visibility across all their operations. Ainscough is also the first national crane business worldwide to achieve carbon-neutral status, which, combined with its live reporting capability, enables them to support the customer’s ESG journey and scope three reporting.

As part of Peter’s drive to raise the bar across the whole UK crane sector, he has held the role as Chair of the Crane Interest Group for the last four years; this is the group that represents all operators across the UK. During his tenure, the group has delivered both crane roadworthiness standards and operating best practice guides, which have been welcomed and endorsed by operators, customers, and regulators; this is the first time the sector has had this level of best practice guidance. The next step is to integrate these agreed standards into the appropriate regulation to give them teeth and ensure consistency, in turn raising the safety standards of all lifting operations in the UK, and equally deliverservice and value benefits to UK construction, key to supporting the growing infrastructure and modular lift demand. These developments will help shape how Ainscough provides the next ten years of lift capability across the UK and leave a high value legacy.