You’ve seen him zooming around the yard in his John Sutch Crane forklift truck but Derek McLarney has rubbed shoulders with the best of them out on site, including our MD, John.
In a career in the crane industry that stretches over five decades, Derek, 70, has seen it, been there and got the T-Shirt. From Anfield Stadium to Aigburth Road, he’s driven his 100T crane there and lifted loads with the skill and precision as he still does to this day.
While his role may be a bit different to when he first met 20-something John Sutch out on site, there’s no sign of Derek slinging his hook as he enters his eighth decade in 2024.
“When people get to retirement age, they either stop or carry on,” Derek said.
“For me, I’m one of those fellas who wanted to carry on and John was happy for me to do it. I still love it, so why not. I come in three days working in the yard. It’s fewer hours than out on site and there’s enough for me to do.
“I did a year out on the cranes but the yard stuff keeps me busy. I was doing five days and then I’ve gone down to three.
“You can’t go on for ever. This is my gym. You don’t stop all day. It keeps you moving and your mind on it. The first thing I do every day is watch everything, give it a good coat of looking over – it’s something I’ve done since I was on site.”
Derek has still got a spring in his step and anyone who was on site to witness the arrival of the Liebherr LTM1450-8.1 last month, would have seen Derek and the team in action.
He was on hand to give his expert opinion, as well as his hands, as the team raised the 1450’s little brother, the Liebherr LTM 1040-2.1.
It was like old times when John arrived, especially when the team saw John pull on his high vis, Derek’s remembers.
“I’ve known John for donkey’s years,” he added.
“It’s probably getting on for 40 years. I used to know him from Stoneycroft. We were both in our late 20’s early 30’s when we met. He is still the same fella.
“He has a warm heart, but you know he can be a bit fiery but that’s John. You could see that when the new crane arrived, but it’s all good fun!
“I have always got on well with him and he’s still as keen today as the first day I met him when he was in the drivers seat himself!”
The crane industry, Derek says, comes with its ‘ups and downs’, but timing was everything back then and when Derek found himself looking for work, John stepped in.
“He worked at Ainscoughs and I was at Roadcraft,” Derek said.
“I got made redundant and then started here two days later – the rest is history. I worked with John on a few jobs over the years and we’ve had some fun.
“When the business first started there was only a few of us. John would come out the office, get his overalls on and get to it. Difference is that I’m still getting dirty!”
While the business has evolved into the powerhouse it is today, Derek says some of the secrets to operating a great and safe job are still the same.
“Times have changed,” he recalls.
“Back in the day you used your eyes as your main tool – you got in your cab and actually looked, analysed if you like, the site and worked it out for yourself. It’s an experience driven game and the more you do it, the more you get it.
“Moving the engines is a skilled job, you are dealing with £1m machines. You have to be skilled. When we did the Giants in Liverpool, that was a great job and we actually had rehearsals for it. You get interesting jobs like that as well as the norm.
“The hardest part is when you go to a site and it’s like a ploughed field that is full of mud. The cranes I had went up to 100Tonne – how is that going to get across the site? It requires real thought and you don’t always get that on some sites – but you find the solution. That is what we do here at John Sutch.”
Would he get back in the driving seat if he had the chance? Of course he would, but he’s looking forward to passing his knowledge and experience down to the next wave of construction talent. And there’s plenty of it in our business.
“I’m happy doing what I’m doing,” he said.
“I’m a long time in. I started in the industry when I was an apprentice mechanic at the age of 16. I later got asked to drive a crane and at the time I thought I could earn a few more quid doing that then fixing the things. Plus, it was drier too.
“It’s long hours and hard work, but I loved it and still love being here today.
“A lot of the young ones now want the easy route and get behind a computer but buildings still need to be built. We need more people in the industry driving cranes. I’ve seen a lot of lads from the military coming into the crane industry and it would be great to see more of them.
“Back in the day you had lads who were merchant seamen after the war coming into the crane industry and they were very good at what they did.
“These lads were at an advantage straight away as they can operate a sling – they just needed to learn how to drive the cranes. Now the lads and ladies start from square one.
“Operating a crane is high stakes. It takes years to get up to speed.
“Sometimes the seemingly hard jobs are the most interesting ones. For the most part it’s the day to day but I’ve worked on some superb jobs.
“My claim to fame is doing the Michael Owen Walkers Crisp advert in Liverpool, then there was Anfield when they put the first big extension on – that was a very good job as it felt like John Sutch was on the pitch! Well our crane was! It was a busy job putting steel work on, I was up and down all day.”
Away from the yard in Bootle, Derek loves to travel. Australia has been ticked off as he and his wife went over to visit family, with John giving him a month off to go and do it.
And now he enjoys driving around in his converted VW up and down the country, as well investing his time as part of a chairmanship at a local club.
“I have a few hobbies,” he said.
“I’m chairman of the local radio remote control car club. It’s in Victoria Park in Southport and I have been doing it for years. I started up with my brother and have been doing it ever since. It’s engineering at the end of the day, so another version of work!”
