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February 2026 – Ainscough, the UK’s largest mobile crane provider, has warned that the nation’s infrastructure ambitions could be derailed by an acute shortage of skilled operators, calling for immediate government intervention to support recruitment and training initiatives.
With 900 employees operating over 300 cranes across 30 depots, Ainscough has a unique vantage point on the sector’s challenges. CEO Peter Gibbs said recruitment is now “the single biggest challenge to the industry and a major risk to UK infrastructure pipeline delivery over the coming years.”
The warning comes as the construction sector grapples with a serious demographic gap caused by the double impact of Covid-19 and Brexit in 2020, which saw substantial drops in activity and a generation of young workers fail to enter the industry.
“If the government wants to get growth moving in construction, then project planning delays need to be addressed and much-improved support introduced for recruitment and training,” said Gibbs, who draws parallels between crane operation and his early career as an army pilot. Over 25% of Ainscough’s workforce is ex-military.
Despite recruitment headwinds, Ainscough has continued to innovate. The company recently became the world’s first carbon-neutral crane business, achieving a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions through conversion to HVO fuel, depot reorganisation and adoption of lighter lifting tackle.
The firm has also developed award-winning engineered safety systems now being adopted as British standards, with Tier 1 customers rolling them out across Europe and the USA. Its digitally supported pre-lifting check process is estimated to substantially reduce incident risk while measuring lift productivity.
Ainscough introduced several innovations that became global industry standards, including the contract lift manager role, specialist lift planners, and tackle boxes to remove loose equipment from crane decks.
The company has been named in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work for two consecutive years and won numerous awards for safety, technology innovation and training.
“Being a crane operator is more of a vocation than a job,” said Gibbs. “The role is well paid, highly regarded, and operators are involved in key projects building and connecting communities across the UK. The vast majority stay for their entire career.”
However, Gibbs cautioned that depressed market conditions, poor pipeline confidence, and recent legislative changes in employment rights are creating “significant blockers” to businesses recruiting and training new talent.
