Meet the UK's youngest digger driver – 13-year-old Finlay Gallagher takes on PlantWorx

PlantWorx 2025 will welcome a very special young guest on the opening day of the show. Thirteen-year-old Finlay Gallagher – now officially the youngest qualified CPCS backhoe loader operator in the UK – will be in the thick of the action on Tuesday 23rd September, spending the day in the Operator Challenge area before heading over to Diggerland for a friendly stand-off with content creator Lucas Haddock.

Finlay has already captured national attention after passing his CPCS test on a JCB 3CX, impressing instructors with his confidence and precision well beyond his years. He’s the third generation of the Gallagher family to make his mark in construction – his grandfather Pat Gallagher started the Kent-based Gallagher Group in 1973 with a single JCB, and today the business is run by Finlay’s father Stephen, who will be joining him at PlantWorx.

For visitors, Finlay’s appearance is a chance to see the teenager putting his newly-won skills to work alongside the JCB team. He’ll take part in demonstrations on the 3CX, with JCB’s Georgina Williams – better known to many on Instagram as @the_happydigger – on the microphone to talk the audience through his moves. He will then step up to the Awesome Earthmovers Operator Challenge, sponsored by JCB, where he’ll meet a line-up of well-known influencers such as Digger Man Blog, Digger Girl, Bearded Excavation and Conor the Digger Driver.

At 12:30pm, Finlay will head over to the Diggerland stand (GB-01) for a light-hearted challenge against Lucas Haddock, which promises to be a social media favourite.

With so much attention already building online – and with Finlay’s own following growing fast on Instagram at @digger_finngallagher – his one-day appearance is set to be a highlight of PlantWorx 2025.

PlantWorx, the UK’s largest working construction event in 2025, runs from 23–25 September 2025 at Newark Showground. With more than 300 exhibitors and 12,000 visitors expected, the countdown is on – register now at www.plantworx.co.uk.