Funding by the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) and other organisations has helped lead to the recovery of £890,000 of stolen plant and equipment in two recent police operations.

The CPA is contributing £90,000 over three years from 2024 - 2026 to help fight plant equipment theft and fraud, which is costing the construction plant industry millions every year.

With additional funding from the Construction Equipment Association (CEA), Hire Association Europe (HAE), CESAR donors, insurers and other organisations, a total of £210,000 per annum is being contributed collectively over the next two years to help fund NCATT - a specialist team of police officers covering the whole of the country to help tackle the theft of construction plant and equipment by organised criminal groups.

Superintendent Andy Huddleston said: “Over a 10-day period two NCATT operations resulted in multiple strikes on locations in West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire. The two operations led to three arrests and the recovery of £540,000 of stolen matting and fencing and 36 pieces of machinery valued at £350,000, all of which were taken from hire companies.

“It has also been announced that NCATT will receive £120,000 from the Home Office to help replace operational vehicles over the coming three years, something which is critical and very welcome,” he continued.

Since NCATT was formed in January 2023, the unit has experienced growing success in recovering stolen plant and agricultural equipment. In 2023, NCATT successfully recovered almost £6.3m of stolen plant and equipment. This increased to £10.5m of recoveries in 2024, and 254 arrests were made. So far in 2025, almost £5.4m of stolen plant and equipment has been successfully recovered, and 68 arrests have been made.

“It’s excellent news that our funding is helping lead to the recovery of stolen plant, which is a massive problem costing our members and the wider industry huge amounts of money, stress and lost revenue," added CPA Chief Executive Officer Steve Mulholland. "We have over 1,900 members at the CPA and we feel it’s very important that the membership funds go back towards helping them.

“Our £90,000 contribution to the work of NCATT is bringing immediate, tangible benefits to our members in preventing and detecting criminal activity and the recovery of illegally obtained plant-hire equipment,” he continued.

https://www.cpa.uk.net/