Plant Hire Controller

About the Company

T Vaughan Ltd is a specialist Enabling, Groundworks, Civil Engineering and RC Frame company based in Brentwood, Essex. We employ a select group of individuals with the professional knowledge and practical skills to provide a high-quality service, tailored to our clients' needs. Current projects range in value from 500k to £10 million. As a company we operate within a fast paced environment across a diverse range of projects primarily in London and the South East but with projects stretching across the whole of England. 

Role Overview

We are looking for an organised and proactive Plant Controller to manage the coordination of plant and equipment across our live construction sites. You will act as the central point of contact between site teams, external hire companies, and internal fleet operations. You will ensure the right plant is in the right place at the right time, track our own machinery, and manage relationships with external hire suppliers to keep costs under control.

Key Responsibilities

• Take plant requests from site managers/foremen on live sites and arrange the required machinery, whether from our own fleet or an external hire company
• Track the location, availability, and utilisation of all internally owned plant across sites, depot, and workshop
• Plan and coordinate movements of internal plant between sites to minimise downtime and avoid unnecessary external hire costs
• Manage relationships and accounts with external plant hire companies, including raising hire requests, negotiating rates, and querying invoices
• Maintain accurate records of all on-hire and off-hire equipment, ensuring timely off-hire to avoid unnecessary charges
• Liaise with the workshop/maintenance team to schedule servicing, repairs, and safety inspections for internal fleet
• Monitor external hire costs against site budgets and flag overspend or inefficiencies to site/project management
• Ensure all plant on site is compliant with relevant health & safety, LOLER, and PUWER requirements, and that documentation (inspections, certificates) is up to date
• Resolve issues raised by site teams regarding breakdowns, delays, or incorrect equipment promptly
• Support cost control by identifying opportunities to use internal plant over external hire where possible
• Maintain internal plant hire/tracking system and produce reports on fleet utilisation and hire spend
• General administrative duties related to plant coordination

Skills & Experience Required

• Previous experience as a plant controller/coordinator, or in plant/fleet management within a construction or civil engineering environment (essential)
• Strong working knowledge of construction plant and equipment
• Experience managing external hire company accounts, including rate negotiation and invoice queries (desirable)
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to coordinate multiple live sites and deadlines simultaneously
• Confident communicator, comfortable liaising with site managers, hire suppliers, and internal teams
• Competent using plant/fleet tracking software and Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook)
• Good numeracy skills for cost tracking and budget control
• Ability to work well under pressure and respond quickly to site demands
• Full UK driving licence (desirable)
• Knowledge of health & safety requirements relevant to plant on construction sites (LOLER/PUWER) (desirable)