Case Study: MEP at 30 - Jonathan Purves

Colleague Story

Jonathan Purves, National Lifting Technical Manager

Jonathan Purves has held a wide range of roles over his 19-year career to date with MEP Hire. He is currently MEP’s National Lifting Technical Manager, where he oversees a team of Lifting Examiners to keep our equipment in top condition and certified safe to use. 

Joining MEP Hire back in 2006 as a Plant Fitter, Jonathan’s role centred around equipment repairs and maintenance to ensure our hire fleet was suitably maintained and ready for action. 

Jonathan really enjoyed working with our customers and so his next role as Hire Controller saw his communication and customer service skills develop further by managing customer hires, off-hires and account queries. With his excellent product knowledge, he was also best placed to advise customers on the best solutions to help them achieve their on-site tasks in the safest and most efficient way. 

When a Service Engineer position came up, Jonathan jumped at the chance of a new challenge. This role saw him travelling across the UK to maintain and repair equipment from tooling to Low Level Access machinery. 

As his responsibilities grew, he took on managing part of the maintenance team. Jonathan then moved into his current role of National Lifting Technical Manager where he manages a team that carries out thorough examinations of Low-Level Access equipment across the MEP Hire Access fleet, as well as customer owned equipment. 

With over 7,900 Access machines currently in fleet, Jonathan and his team are kept busy with maintenance and testing. Crucially, this work ensures safety standards are met across the Construction Industry, which he told us feels like he’s really giving something back to the customers we serve. 

Jonathan added that every day is a learning day at MEP Hire, and he is always looking to develop and grow his skills sets even further. He’s hoping to progress his career even further with MEP Hire, with his eyes on a central management role. All the best Jonathan, the sky’s the limit!

“I have been lucky to have had a wide range of roles in my time at MEP Hire. This has given me a deep understanding of the company and the industry we operate in. I love that every day is different and brings its own challenges. I also love the friendly and supportive community we’ve built here within our own workforce. I’ve known many colleagues for 10 years or more and have made friends for life working here. I’ve had some fantastic mentors over the years as well who have always pushed me on and inspired me to learn, develop and grow.” Jonathan Purves

James Legg, Commercial Director, and Jonathan’s Manager added, “it’s been a pleasure to see Jonathan’s skills and confidence grow over the years I’ve known him. His team clearly rate him highly too, which has a positive effect across the business; helping us to achieve our growth targets and to meet our customers’ high expectations.”