Plantworx 2023 by Ben Chambers

Not habitually following construction equipment enthusiasts online could have made me miss an interesting comment I was sent by a friend in the industry.

The video clip I received bemoaned the absence of the crème de la crème of the equipment world from this year’s Plantworx, namely, JCB, Kobelco, RokBak and Komatsu.

I would have dismissed it as irrelevant, but this particular enthusiast might just have had a point.

Having heard jibes that Plantworx had the air of a county fair, I was still happy to be positive and go for the first time in four years, as I had attended in 2019 and from memory it was a decent event. But I am a lot more embedded in this industry now and know what to look for, what I want, enjoy and expect.

It was a delight to meet with the OEMs that were there, including those who advertise with us and those who get involved with our publications and we even did some new business.

My working commitments only allowed me to attend the gala dinner on the Monday evening before the event proper, and a full day walkaround on the Tuesday – minor gripe, my editor’s surname was worryingly also given as Chambers, and we were both listed as working for a defunct publication.

Our table for the dinner was brilliant and the entire do was sound and probably the best part of the show for me. With new business done, wine quaffed, promises made to visit various stands (with some even kept) and a great host in ITV’s Chaser Shawn Wallace, it was a shame that some didn’t manage to turn up, leaving their seats bare even when we were told there was a waiting list.

All in all it was an OK event, and without some of the big guns in attendance I was able to focus elsewhere, but having been spoiled with annual visits to the Las Vegas Convention Center for World of Concrete and doubly this year with the gargantuan CONEXPO as well as last year’s best ever Hillhead, the show did lack a certain big event feel.