Dig In Deep

Construction labour rates have hit a record high — but if the money is so good, why can’t the industry find enough skilled workers? In this episode of the Dig In Deep Podcast, Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt and Liam Moore dig into one of the biggest contradictions facing UK construction and plant hire. New figures show self-employed construction tradespeople earning an average of around £1,110 per week,...

What happens when you ask three people from the construction and plant hire industry the questions everyone thinks about — but nobody normally asks? In this episode of Dig In Deep, Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt and Liam Moore tackle questions with real answers and no filterWhat’s the biggest load of rubbish you’ve ever heard someone say in plant hire? Which customers give you the biggest headache? Whic...

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 a...

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...

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 an...

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 prac...

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...

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 w...

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,...

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 c...

🏆 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, Sust...

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...

🏆 THE RYDER CUP OF PLANT HIRE — EUROPE vs USA | PART 1Which side of the Atlantic has built the better equipment rental industry? In this three-part Dig In Deep special, Mark Kennedy and Mark Scutt put European and American plant hire head-to-head across 18 holes to find out what each market does best — and what hire businesses can learn from both. In Part 1, we tackle the opening six holes: Size...

Part 2 of the Dig In Deep Plant Hire Industry Report podcast goes beyond the headlines and into the financial detail shaping the UK's plant hire sector. Join Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt and Liam Moore as they analyse the accounts of the UK's leading plant hire businesses, examining turnover, profitability, EBITDA, debt, cash flow, utilisation, investment strategies and the key trends emerging...

Dig In Deep Industry Report 2026 | UK Plant Hire, Equipment Rental In this special two-part Dig In Deep podcast, we take a detailed look at the Dig In Deep Industry Report 2026 and discuss what the latest data really means for the UK plant hire, equipment rental and powered access industries. We go beyond the headline numbers to examine the performance of the market, company financials, fleet inve...

Are you replacing your construction equipment at the right time... or making a million-pound mistake? In this episode of Dig In Deep, host Mark Kennedy is joined by Mark Scutt from Stato to tackle one of the biggest financial decisions facing contractors, plant hire companies and fleet managers. When should you replace construction equipment? Buy too early and you could lose millions in unnecessar...

Are your construction machines becoming obsolete faster than they wear out? In this episode of Dig In Deep, Mark Kennedy is joined by Mark Scutt from Stato to explore one of the biggest financial challenges facing contractors, plant hire companies and fleet owners today – asset obsolescence. When is the right time to replace construction equipment? Buy too early and you could throw away hundreds o...

In this explosive episode of Dig In Deep, hosts Mark Kennedy (“The Prompt”) and Mark Scutt (“The Stats Man”) tackle one of the biggest issues facing the construction and hire industry right now:Has tool hire become a race to the bottom? From ultra-low hire rates and damage waivers to national account pricing, hidden charges, late payments and online tool sales, we ask the question many in the indu...

Are sales reps disappearing from plant and tool hire? In this episode of Dig In Deep, host Mark Kennedy goes head-to-head with “Stats Man” Mark Scutt in a heated debate about the future of sales and marketing in construction, plant hire and tool hire. Has LinkedIn replaced the traditional depot visit? Do customers still care about relationships? Is procurement killing loyalty? Can online ordering...

Construction health & safety has transformed the industry over the last 30 years…But has it genuinely made sites safer — or has construction become buried in paperwork and bureaucracy? In this episode of Dig In Deep, hosts Mark Kennedy and Mark Scutt tackle one of the most divisive debates in UK construction:🔥 Construction Safety: Bureaucracy or Necessary? We discuss:• Has health & safety...

Are skilled tradespeople now earning more than university graduates? And did Britain push too many young people away from construction, engineering and practical careers? In this episode of Dig In Deep, hosts Mark Kennedy and Mark Scutt tackle one of the biggest debates in the UK right now:University vs Trades – Who’s Really Winning? We break down:• Graduate salaries vs trade wages• The reality of...

What’s really happening to people coming into construction? Why are we training new talent… then losing them a few years later? In this highly entertaining and brutally honest episode of What’s Doing Your Head In?, host Mark Kennedy sits down with the hugely charismatic Liam Moore alongside Mark Scutt for a deep dive into the reality of construction, demolition, training, apprenticeships and reten...

Britain is now one of the most expensive countries in theworld to build homes… but why? In this episode, Mark Kennedy, Mark Scutt and Charlie digdeep into the UK housing crisis, rising construction costs, planning permissiondelays, labour shortages and developer profits to uncover what’s reallyhappening inside British construction. Why does it take years to get housing developments approved? Why d...

How many accreditations does a contractor need before they’re actually allowed to do the job? In this episode, Mark Kennedy and Mark Scutt take a hard look at the growing world of contractor accreditations across UK construction, rail, utilities, nuclear and infrastructure. From CHAS and Constructionline to Achilles, RISQS and Fit For Nuclear — are these schemes genuinely improving safety and comp...

Are construction companies really only making 2% profit … and if so, how is the industry even surviving? In this episode of Dig In Deep , we tackle one of the biggest and most controversial topics in construction right now — profit margins . From billion-pound infrastructure projects to everyday builds, the reality is shocking: Contractors are taking on huge risk… for tiny returns. So we ask the q...