How Jet Plant Hire is leading the UK’s road planning industry to Net Zero
With a substantial fleet of road planers and a strategic plan to grow its network of depots, Jet Plant Hire (Jet) not only delivers an enhanced road planning service across the UK but is also paving the way for sustainable operations in some of the industry’s most demanding and technically challenging projects. Driven by the values of quality, safety, and sustainability, Jet provides scalable solutions for all types of customers, from general hire and smaller projects to large programmes and public sector clients.
“Jet was established in 1989 and remains a family-owned business, now operating more than 30 Wirtgen planers across the UK and employing 126 people,” opens Simon Bithell, Managing Director. “We’ve very recently secured a site for a new depot in the North of England, in the Yorkshire area, which will be operational in Q1 2026, and we’ve recruited an experienced professional to establish the site and manage growth in this region.
“The scope of our services ranges from projects using a 350-millimetre planer to cover a small area, such as bridge deck expansion joints or for refurbishment of footpaths and pavement work, to large-scale, high-output projects using 2.2-metre planers for planing full lanes of the motorways. We’re passionate about operating as sustainably as possible, with several initiatives underway to lower our carbon footprint, reduce waste, and ensure a positive ESG strategy for our employees and community.”
Ian Mitchell, Commercial Director, adds: “Along with the equipment, we also provide the expert crews to operate the planers, from small jobs lasting a day to executing 120-day planning schedules on National Highway and Local Authority programmes. We can also project manage the planing phase on behalf of our customers, using our own equipment and transport, and subcontracting ancillary services to third parties where needed. As expert project managers, we strive to deliver every job on time and within budget, as well as compliant in terms of health and safety. To support this, we continuously train our staff and aim to consistently operate a zero-incident site throughout every project.”
Considering Jet’s position in the market and its ability to complete a wide range of projects, it’s no surprise that the business has built a loyal base of longstanding customers and suppliers. “We’ve built some excellent relationships, and our top ten customers have traded with us for an average of 16 years,” Simon confirms. “Wirtgen are the key provider of our equipment, with another planer now due for delivery. We’ve worked with Wirtgen for over 36 years, and we’ve built a great partnership based on shared values, honesty, and integrity from day one.”
Jet’s core values align with three strategic pillars: sustainable innovation, business ethics, and process rigour. “Sustainable innovation reflects our commitment to using the best possible equipment and technologies to provide optimised solutions that deliver reduced carbon emissions,” Ian elaborates. “Business ethics refers to our strong reputation for being a fully accredited, accountable, and compliant service provider. Lastly, process rigour means our teams operate in a process-driven manner on every site, working seamlessly to deliver an enhanced service and efficient project delivery.”
When it comes to sustainability, Jet is taking huge leaps to lead the UK’s road planing industry on a path to Net Zero. “We’ve switched our entire fleet of planers to operate on HVO, leading to a 90 per cent reduction of our carbon emissions, and invested in new equipment that enables us to carry and manage more waste with fewer vehicles, reducing the number of miles used per tonne of waste,” Ian explains. “We were recently ‘highly commended’ for a sustainability award, and although we didn’t win, we were up against some huge organisations across diverse sectors. In the end, Aston Martin won the award, but our commendation is testament to our progress so far within this industry.”
Having featured in the Sunday Times Best Place to Work 2025 list, we ask Simon about Jet’s approach to company culture and personal development. “Being recognised in this way is a huge achievement for us, especially considering our industry is often considered to be behind others in terms of ESG and sustainability,” he shares. “Alongside prioritising the health and safety of our people, we embrace the concept of the ‘Jet way,’ not judging ourselves against our competitors but instead measuring tasks individually to find improvements. This approach breeds an environment for continuous improvement, where we regularly review our processes and find ways to be more efficient and challenge our ways of working.
“In light of the industry’s ageing population and a lack of skilled people entering the workforce, we recognised that to grow our business in terms of people, we either needed to entice planer operators away from other companies or train our own operators,” Simon adds. “Around 18 months ago, we set up Jet School to provide exciting career opportunities with a route to permanent employment. The school offers a thorough training scheme across all five planer sizes that we use, creating well-rounded operators that are ready to join our workforce. We’re aiming to recruit four people every year to the Jet School, which will not only enable our further growth, but also inject new talent into the road planing industry.”
As our conversation closes, Simon and Ian reflect on 2025 and share what the year ahead has in store for Jet. “2025 has been a year of investing in the business, continuing our six-year fleet equipment replacement cycle, and future proofing our infrastructure as we look towards further growth,” Ian states. “Not only have we secured a location for our new North depot, but we’ve recruited several personnel to boost our commercial resource and capitalise on market opportunities. We’ve also welcomed a highly experienced individual from within the industry to spearhead our growth in the North of the UK as part of our five-year strategy.
“Our main areas of focus are expanding the geography in which we operate and increasing the utilisation and efficiency of our fleet,” Ian concludes. “The market is currently very fragmented, with lots of smaller companies operating in specific regions, meaning there could be opportunities to explore acquisitions that secure increased geography beyond organic growth. Expanding into new areas will enable us to grow with both our loyal existing customers and new clients, all of which supports our goal to significantly grow the business over the next five years.”