Ben the Operator is Flying High

The Digger Man Blog has always supported young talent on the construction machinery social media circuit, back in 2020 for instance, we shone the light on the wonderful Amy Underwood aka the_digger_girl, at the time of that blog Amy had around 10k followers, leap forward to today and she is leaving us all trailing in her wake at 146k, which just proves the power of social media. Today I’m delighted to focus on another up-and-coming star Ben Wade aka bentheoperator.

Ben is an ambitious young plant operator and student pilot from Derbyshire, UK. Having first got behind the controls of a digger at the age of just 4 years old, it has led him on a journey that he never knew was possible. Ben’s parents renovate houses, and the groundwork’s side of things has always been his favourite aspect of it.

Ben takes up the story, “On the latest house project, I was 13 when we started. The groundworker decided to take me on and allowed me to work in his yard on machines of all sizes. This was a great experience, and he took extra care to show me the right way of doing things.

Eventually I was going to some of his jobs at the weekends and working on the ground but also getting every bit of experience possible in the cab.

In the May of 2022 at the age of 16, I wanted to progress, so I started with Operator Training in Staffordshire to gain my CPCS. They have an excellent team and I managed to gain my ticket in just a day and a half.

Still being in school makes things a lot harder for me when looking for work but I decided to go out of my comfort zone and started asking around. At the time, Bailey Construction of Derby were starting a large project at my school to build a new extension. I nervously went up to the site gates and asked the boss who was there if I could just take some pictures.

We eventually got into conversation, and later that year was given the green light to spend a week with them for work experience on the JCB 140X they had. Having then recently turned 17, this was just what I needed. The operators gladly stepped out the cab to let me in and show me the way. This led to months of work with them which was brilliant”.

Ben continues, “In July last year I spent a whole week with JCB for work experience at their test site quarry. This was a totally unique opportunity that they allowed me to do, and it was completely epic!

I got to try out all sorts of machines and even operate the new hydrogen excavator at a time when few others had even seen it in the metal. I spent some time with Georgina Williams, aka @jcb_diggergirl, who had helped a lot in getting me there.

In September I was invited to the UK Plant Operator of the year competition. What a great experience this was, competing against other fantastic operators. It was also a great boost in confidence as at the time my social media was gaining more traction.

Since then, I’ve continued getting as much experience as possible on sites and have been back to JCB for a VIP event. I can’t wait to see what 2023 holds myself and the industry!"

Ben, who can be found on Instagram at @bentheoperator, like so many others on the social media circuit, is a pretty active self-promotor which is all credit to him as he clearly has big ambitions to succeed in the industry, in addition to becoming a fully qualified aircraft pilot, he is intelligent, talented and respectful, attributes that will see him go far I'm sure. He was recently a guest on Mark Anthony's Demolition News, and you can watch that video here. 

In the meantime, checkout Ben's promotional trailer video for his You Tube channel.