At the end of April the Cemex UK Readymix Operations Managers held their first Readymix Operations Forum since before COVID. All Operations Managers from across the UK joined the session which was held at Finning CAT head offices in Cannock, Birmingham. Lex Russell, UK Materials MD, also joined the meeting.

During the day the group heard from the following speakers:

• Adam Leverett – Head of Operational Excellence WEM
• Peter Luxmore – Health & Safety Operations Manager
• Steve Sheller – Head of Business Development WEM
• John Allison – Guest Speaker focusing on Leadership and mental health awareness

The group began their day with a tour of the CAT facility focusing on Operational Excellence within their business. Following the tour, the Managers had a long discussion around safety and some of the recent incidents that have sadly happened within our operations. They then moved on to how we approach operational excellence, where Adam Leverett demonstrated the features and equipment we now have on our Readymix plants which monitor the health of equipment and its performance.

Steve Sheller then went on to talk about the Regenra brand and how we can all help towards working within a circular economy, a great discussion around using recycled materials in our Readymix plants moving forward.

The day concluded with a guest speaker, John Alison, who talked to the team about his experiences throughout his life. John spent many years as a Bomb Disposal Engineer in the Army and could relate his successes to the leadership that he was shown.  He also spoke about the wellbeing side and how he faced many challenges after leaving the Army.

Commenting on the day, Nigel Bateman, Senior Operations Manager London, said: “Thank you very much to Rob Sims and his team for organising an ops conference yesterday in Wolverhampton.  A very well structured and enjoyable day spent with people in the company that we haven’t seen face to face since before COVID, a very engaging day.”