Plant Workshop Service Controller

Who we are?

Smiths (Gloucester) Ltd is a family run business owned and run by the Smith family since 1982. Smiths has grown from a single owner-operated plant hire company to a multifaceted group with family values still firmly at the heart of each project undertaken. With depots in Avonmouth, Cardiff, Gloucester, Stonehouse, and Tewkesbury we operate predominately across the South-West of England. We specialise in Construction, Waste Management, Plant Hire, Demolition, and Transport operations.

Ideally the successful candidate will be required to have experience working in a Transport or Plant workshop environment.

What we're looking for?

The Plant Workshop Coordinator is responsible for overseeing and coordinating all administrative, compliance, service, maintenance, and cost-control processes relating to the company’s plant hire fleet.

The role acts as the central administrative link between the workshop, plant hire operations, transport, suppliers, operators, site teams, and management. The postholder will ensure that all plant assets are accurately recorded, properly maintained, compliant, cost-controlled, and available for operational use.

This is a key coordination role designed to improve fleet visibility, reduce downtime, support preventative maintenance, ensure statutory inspections are completed on time, and maintain accurate records across the full lifecycle of each item of plant.

Location: Eastington

Hours: Full-time (flexibility on hours to be discussed at interview)

Responsibilities for the job role:

• Maintain accurate records for all plant assets, attachments, ancillary equipment, and hired-in plant.
• Ensure plant asset registers are kept fully up to date, including:
  • Fleet number
  • Make and model
  • Serial number
  • Purchase date
  • Service history
  • LOLER inspection dates
  • MOTs where applicable
  • Warranty details
  • Disposal records
  • Location and allocation
• Support the administration of a circa £20 million plant fleet, ensuring accurate asset visibility and control.
• Maintain plant files, digital records, certificates, inspection documents, and compliance records.
• Ensure all plant movements, allocations, transfers, and off-hires are recorded accurately and promptly.
• Workshop Coordination
  • Coordinate daily workshop administration and ensure jobs are logged, prioritised, and tracked through to completion.
  • Raise, monitor, and close workshop job cards.
  • Liaise with fitters, workshop supervisors, plant managers, and hire desk teams to ensure repairs and servicing are planned effectively.
  • Track plant breakdowns and ensure updates are communicated to relevant operational teams.
  • Monitor machine downtime and escalate repeat or long-standing defects.
  • Coordinate external repairs where work cannot be completed internally.
  • Support the planning of workshop workload to balance urgent breakdowns with planned maintenance.
• Planned Maintenance and Servicing
  • Maintain and manage the planned preventative maintenance schedule for all plant and equipment.
  • Ensure servicing is completed in line with manufacturer requirements, internal standards, and operational needs.
  • Monitor service intervals based on hours, mileage, dates, or usage.
  • Coordinate with site teams and plant operators to arrange machine availability for servicing.
  • Track overdue services and inspections, producing regular reports for management.
  • Support the reduction of reactive breakdowns through effective maintenance planning.
• Compliance and Statutory Inspections
  • Ensure all statutory inspections are scheduled, completed, recorded, and filed.
  • Monitor LOLER, PUWER, pressure systems, lifting equipment, and other relevant compliance requirements.
  • Liaise with external inspection providers to arrange examinations and obtain certificates.
  • Ensure expired or non-compliant equipment is identified, isolated, and escalated.
  • Maintain clear audit trails for all inspection and compliance activity.
  • Support internal and external audits by providing accurate plant maintenance and compliance records.
• Supplier and Purchase Order Administration
  • Raise purchase orders for workshop parts, external repairs, inspections, consumables, and plant-related services.
  • Ensure purchase orders are properly authorised and matched against invoices.
  • Liaise with suppliers to obtain quotations, delivery updates, service reports, and certificates.
  • Support cost control by challenging discrepancies, monitoring spend, and ensuring costs are allocated to the correct asset or department.
  • Maintain good working relationships with key parts suppliers, service providers, dealerships, and inspection companies.
  • Assist with supplier performance monitoring, including cost, turnaround time, and service quality.
• Cost Control and Reporting
  • Track maintenance, repair, inspection, and service costs against individual fleet assets.
  • Produce regular reports on:
    • Workshop activity
    • Plant downtime
    • Breakdown trends
    • Maintenance spend
    • Compliance status
    • Overdue inspections
    • External repair costs
    • Repeat defects
  • Highlight excessive repair costs or machines that may require replacement, disposal, or further review.
  • Support management with data for capital expenditure decisions, replacement planning, and asset lifecycle reviews.
  • Ensure costs are coded accurately to support meaningful fleet performance analysis.
• Plant Hire and Operational Support
  • Work closely with the plant hire team to ensure equipment availability is accurately reflected.
  • Support the coordination of machines returning from hire, including inspection, defect logging, cleaning, servicing, and preparation for rehire.
  • Ensure returned plant is checked and any damage, missing items, or defects are recorded.
  • Liaise with site teams regarding machine defects, service requirements, damage reports, and operator issues.
  • Support efficient turnaround of equipment to maximise fleet utilisation.
  • Assist with hired-in plant administration where required, including on-hire/off-hire records, supplier documentation, and damage queries.
• Systems and Data Management
  • Maintain accurate data within plant, workshop, hire, or fleet management systems.
  • Ensure job cards, inspection records, certificates, service documents, and invoices are uploaded or filed correctly.
  • Identify opportunities to improve administrative processes and system accuracy.
  • Support the move toward paperless or digital workflow where appropriate.
  • Ensure plant records are consistent, complete, and available for management review.
• Health, Safety and Environmental Support
  • Support the workshop and plant operations in maintaining safe systems of work.
  • Ensure defects affecting safety are escalated immediately.
  • Maintain records relating to safety inspections, maintenance, repairs, and compliance checks.
  • Assist in ensuring plant is not released for use unless safe, compliant, and fit for purpose.
  • Support environmental good practice by tracking fuel, AdBlue, hydraulic oil, waste oils, filters, and spill-related records where required.
  • Promote a proactive safety culture across plant and workshop administration.