Blog; Construction Machinery Theft Expected to Remain at High Levels

Construction machinery theft has been at unusually high levels consistently since February 2022 and will remain so for the foreseeable future due to worldwide and, in particular, Eastern European demand. Global events such as the conflict in Ukraine are driving up demand for stolen goods, with a 200% increase in the theft of construction plant and agricultural equipment in the UK. Prior to the war in Ukraine, between 40-70 high value machines were typically stolen in one month. But in a single month last year, over 200 machines were stolen nationwide and for the last 18 months thefts have been over 110 machines per month.

Coupled with often poor security on many of the machines commonly stolen, making headway has been challenging. However, the last two months has given some hope of improvement with two months of consecutive falls in overall numbers of machines stolen.

The team at NCATT (National Construction and Agriculture Theft Team) believe the £6.2M worth of seizures they made in 2023, over 600 officers having received CITS training, and increased activity at ports by some police forces has made handling stolen machinery more difficult. The role of technology, particularly tracking and the CESAR Scheme continues to be a big part of the solution but the NCATT team feels strongly that some manufacturers are not doing enough, particularly those that only provide a single key as security. The General Election delayed the Equipment Theft Prevention Act secondary legislation but NCATT remains committed to supporting the new government in implementing this as it will help reduce instances of HAE members’ machines being stolen.

Superintendent Andrew Huddleston of the National Rural Crime Unit said, “NCATT finished its first year of operation with the aforementioned £6.2M in seizures of stolen machinery from criminals. For the first half of this year the team are matching this with over £3M in recoveries but crucially we are seeing more arrests and, with the support of the CESAR donor board including HAE funding support, the team now have a financial investigation capability. Within 4 weeks of the funding being approved the first financial operation resulted in the freezing of £3.2M in criminal assets following an investigation into the theft of 53 machines.”

Another significant operation targeting construction and agricultural machinery thieves took place with South Yorkshire Police in May 2024 with NCATT identifying seven stolen machines and trailers including a JCB roller belonging to an HAE member. Using CESAR RAPID the roller was found to be stolen and earned local officer PC Jase Lindsay a Champions badge.

Superintendent Huddleston continues, “The 15 stolen power tools, all belonging to CPA and HAE members, were linked along with the equipment to two high value burglaries. Two persons were arrested and a third is currently wanted. Being unable to provide keys for the locked units officers had to force entry using cutting equipment donated by GAP Group, the same units that two weeks earlier had been found to contain stolen GAP tools. Poetic justice some might say.

“The Hire Association’s three-year commitment to fund £30,000 to help fight plant equipment theft and fraud is absolutely crucial to us continuing this work and targeting construction machinery thieves. With additional funding from the Construction Equipment Association (CEA), CESAR donors and insurers, a total of £650,000 is being contributed collectively to help fund NCATT. Having this specialist team of police officers that cover the whole of the country not only identifying stolen equipment but also coordinating forces and pushing legislative changes is making a difference in tackling organised criminal groups that target HAE members. We are a small unit and whilst we can’t support every theft investigation, what we are able to do is make a tangible difference and I thank the industry for its crucial support in helping us do this.”

Whilst conventional thefts remain the main threat there is a perceptible rise in fraudulent hire thefts, believed to be a result of the increased difficulty to steal equipment and keep it. Hiring a machine gives criminals time to find tracking technology and move the equipment out of the UK before it’s reported stolen, and Action Fraud isn’t able to act quickly enough to intercept. This is where tracking technology, geo-fences and CESAR live time checks giving direct contact with owners can be so crucial.”

Superintendent Huddleston comments, “Recently we had a case at Harwich Port where eight suspected stolen machines were found in one lorry late at night with their destination as Poland. It’s crucial that we can check systems at any time and, where things appear suspicious, ask the owner if their piece of hired plant should be leaving the UK.”

“Going forward and subject to funding I would like to support fraudulent hire investigations more but, in the interim, I do feel the sharing of information of criminal activity between members is a fundamental part of the solution. Working with the industry is key and I am more than happy to meet more HAE members to exchange views and detail about the threat we jointly face.”

HAE EHA will be launching a new and updated Theft and Fraud Portal for members to share information on incidents of crime. In the mean-time if you have any questions you can contact Mark Bradshaw, Public Affairs Manager, on 0121 380 4621.