Profile - Dave Vickers THE AMBASSADOR
Dave Vickers took top honours in a competition run by UK Plant Operators mag recently. His skills won him some useful equipment, but Mrs. Vickers had other plans for the prize money...
D
ave Vickers is not the sort of chap to rest on his laurels, although, as the
inaugural winner of UK Plant Operators magazine’s hotly contested compo, he surely has plenty of those. Instead, he is very much on a mission to encourage youngsters into the industry – he even has his eye on a possible contender – but first I wanted to know about the man himself. How did he get into the business and where did he acquire such skills?
“Plant is in my family, and I have been driving machinery since I was around six years old,” he begins. “I worked in the railways after I left school – I was the youngest RoadRailer driver in the UK. I worked for AP Webb Plant Hire until I was 24, then I bought my first Takeuchi machine and we went all over the country doing Marks & Spencer contracts. After I’d set up my own business up I never looked back!”
The company in question is Vickers Plant Services. How big is the company and what’s in the fleet?
“We’re not massive – there’s only three of us at the moment. We run two mini-diggers, a nine tonne Takeuchi, a telehandler, a couple of dumpers and a roller. Next year I’m looking to buy a 13 tonne machine. Everyone knows us around Stone (in Staffs) because of the work we do. I don’t mess about with anything and I’m a bit OCD, because I like everything to be done dead right.”
On that, a video of Dave’s performance at the UK plant Operator finals demonstrated a deft and professional touch, rather than aiming for pure speed alone. How did he get into the competition in the first place and who else was involved?
“I’d bought a Takeuchi TB217R from Philip at Parkway, and he rang me up asking if I’d like to do a Takeuchi promotional video. Nick Drew from Earthmovers recorded the footage and I got an article in the magazine. When Philip saw the footage he suggested that I should enter the competition. It’s not my cup of tea at all, but I agreed.
final five contenders, and was rewarded with an Xwatch system, a Leica Geosystems kit and £10K in prize money. It was no sooner won than spent, it seems.
“The money has gone towards an extension on our house, because my wife was seven months pregnant at the time of the competition – ‘Little Ted’ is due at the end of December, but Sarah would have found a way to spend the money either way!”
As the inaugural plant operator champ, the first question UK Plant Operators asked was whether Dave was going to return to defend his title in 2022. He had a rather better idea in mind, however.
anything and I’m a bit OCD, because I like everything to be done dead right
‘‘
Dave Vickers won't be defending his title, but won his accolade with precision and professionalism.
“I didn’t realise how professional and popular some of the other drivers would be – ‘Conor the Digger Driver’ and the ‘Bearded Excavator Operator’, both with hundreds of thousands of social media followers, and Vickers Plant Services not even on Instagram. There were 27 of us in the final. I think I succeeded because I treated the competition like a proper test, fastening my seatbelt correctly, thinking about the angle of repose when digging, and how I presented myself to the judges.
“One of the trickiest challenges was to scoop a ball off a traffic cone and place it in a tyre. I think only me and Hannah Jarman (of Breheny Civil Engineering) got all six balls.”
The day-long competition involved many other trials and was umpired by CPCS judges, whose standards, it’s fair to say, were exacting. Dave prevailed among the
’’ I don’t mess about with
“I want to bow out on top,” he says. “I want to be an ambassador for the competition – I’d like to go there on the day and help
those whose nerves might be getting the better of them.
“Ultimately, I want to inspire younger people into the industry. I’ve been doing a lot with apprentices recently, and have been down to the CITB facility in Bircham Newton telling groups of students how I got into the industry and how I set my business up. I’m the fifth generation of plant operators in my family, so I’d like to pass my knowledge on.”
Well, the more that can be done to help plug the skills gap the better. Dave’s enthusiasm is certainly catching, so we wish him much success in all his future endeavours. Meanwhile, it probably won’t be hard to spot him on the roads of Staffordshire – he’ll be the one making sure that everything is done dead right. n
www.facebook.com/vickersplantservices
22 Executive Hire News - Jan/Feb 2022
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