Article by Nick Drew – EARTHMOVERS (February ’26).
Nick Drew visits a well respected firm in the south west of England that runs a large fleet of CASE machinery
Back in 1995, the husband and wife team of Steve and Kay Hoskin established a small business: initially from a room above the garage of their house: for which Steve worked as an owner operator. Some three decades later, Steve Hoskin Construction employs over 300 skilled professionals.
In 2021 Steve took on the role of chairman, handing the reins of the business to his son Neil Hoskin and daughter Charlotte Worden. Just a year later the award winning company became a third generation business, when Steve’s grandson Dylan Worden joined the firm.
PEOPLE BUSINESS
The family feel to the firm is particularly important to Charlotte, as is looking after the staff especially from a mental health perspective, for which she must be commended. As part of her initiative, the firm holds a family fun day event every year for the staff, which in 2025 coincided with the firm’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
Charlotte said, "I want to shake hands and chat to the workforce and get a perspective from different people, especially the youngsters. It’s important to me that they know and understand that they can progress up the ranks in the business: they are our future after all."
"It’s very important to us to maintain that family feel to the company. We have 100 of our employees who have been working for us for at least 10 years, so it feels like we are doing something right. At the end of the day, our people on the ground are the most important aspect, as without them, we can’t do the job."
QUOTE: "IT’S AN ABSOLUTELY LOVELY PIECE OF KIT. I WOULDN’T GO BACK TO THE CX250 AFTER BEING ON THIS"
"We have also had some lads who, having worked for us, have decided to give it a go setting up in business themselves. We have always been very supportive of other companies, as we know that it's not always easy in business, so fair play to anyone that wants to give it a go."
"Staff development and health and safety are very important to us, so this year we have started an apprenticeship scheme. We have created our own training hub in one of the buildings at our head office in Pensilva, Cornwall. It’s in its early stages at the moment, but we are going to set it up like a site, with pedestrian walkways, as they would find on real live sites. They will learn about inductions and health and safety expectations, so that when they go out on site they are fully prepared and have a good understanding of what’s expected."
"Future wise, you must keep moving: you just can’t stand still in this game, so we will continue to grow and evolve going forward. The long term plan is to provide more in house training for our workforce, utilising our training hub to ensure consistently high quality workmanship across every project. Plans are also underway to expand the head office, creating a larger, more dynamic space where engineers and construction teams can collaborate and grow."
FLEET PROFILE
Charlotte continued, "Dad has always been a fan of Case machines and wanted to have the most in the south west. Whenever we get a new machine, we always strive for it to be another Case."
"Case machines have always been the reliable option for us as a business. With so much workload in front of us, and tight programmes, you simply need reliable and brilliant performing machines. In addition, Case machines are more often than not preferred by our operators. Our in house mechanics prefer them too, because they are familiar with them. And, of course, our local dealer M&M Plant is absolutely brilliant to deal with. We have built up a very long standing relationship with them and the support they give us makes all the difference."
Steve Hoskin Construction currently runs some 43 Case machines, believed to be the largest dedicated fleet of Case equipment in the UK. They range from CX80D and CX90D midis, 16 examples of the CX130 models, 14 various CX210s, together with larger excavators, a 590ST backhoe loader and a 1650M dozer.
Charlotte commented, "Over the last year or so we have noticed we are having to price and tender for more deeper drainage than ever, and it seems to keep going that way. This means that we need machines with more power and reach than previously required, and also for lifting duties of the large precast ‘easy’ manholes that are specified today. For instance, years ago, our go to excavator for drainage work was the CX210, but more so these days it’s the CX250, due to that extra lift capacity and power performance."
QUOTE: "OUR GO TO EXCAVATOR FOR DRAINAGE WORK WAS THE CX210, BUT THESE DAYS IT’S THE CX250, DUE TO EXTRA LIFT CAPACITY AND POWER"
Earlier this year the company purchased a new CX250E for operator Mike Gilbert. He came through the construction plant operator course at Duchy College and, at just 17 years old, went straight out on an excavator as the youngest operator. He has operated a wide range of machines since then and now has the new CX250E, which is fitted with an Engcon tilt rotator.
LARGER CASE EXCAVATOR
We met Charlotte and some of the team at the massive Sherford project, which is a new town being constructed in Devon. This project started in 2015 and is being built in phases, on behalf of several national house building developers. It will eventually contain 5500 new homes, together with all the supporting infrastructure, including new schools, medical surgeries and retail shops.
Among the many Steve Hoskin Construction machines working on this site was another new CX250E excavator, which was first seen at an M&M Plant open day in May 2025 and was delivered shortly after. This machine’s operator is yet another long serving employee, Luke Billing Wills, known locally as ‘Pork Chop’, a first class operator and a real West Country character.
However, we were on site to see the latest Case excavator to join the fleet, a 30 tonne class CX300E, which was also sporting the firm’s distinctive blue and white livery. It’s the latest mount for operator Mark Weeks, replacing a CX250E that was featured in the May 2022 issue.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS AND CAB
For the European market, the Japanese built CX300E is powered by a six cylinder FPT engine rated at 193.4kW (259hp) at 1900rpm. Incidentally, this engine does not have an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) sub system, which often proves problematic over long term use. With the new E series, Case has doubled the service intervals, up to 1000 hours for engine oil, fuel and oil filters, which also helps to keep cost of ownership down.
The engine drives a blue chip Kawasaki hydraulic pump system, which combines to provide four work modes and 10 throttle position settings. The work modes are super power, power, eco and lifting, the last also has a power boost function and a permanently activated overload warning system.
Compared to the old D series models, the undercarriage has been significantly redesigned on these latest models. The recoil spring assembly, which maintains the track tension, has been compacted in length and moved forward away from the front top roller. This enabled the designers to create a larger hole below the roller to allow more muck to drop down, while not potentially dropping straight down on to the track tensioner, which is now completely out of the way.
Dominating the cab interior is the all new 10in monitor, which in common with many other manufacturers these days now resembles a tablet device. The monitor is split into three defined sections: top of the screen is the icon area, which displays operational information such as machine hours, oil and water temperatures, fuel level, working modes and the time.
Below that and forming the largest part of the monitor is the camera views, which can be configured in a wide variety of ways to suit the operator’s preferences. There is an option, if specified, to have the 270 degree birds eye camera display on the screen, along with side and rear images.
The standard air suspension seat features integrated joystick consoles, so the sticks rise and fall with the seat, ensuring that small or large operators always maintain their preferred and most comfortable operating position.
Operator Mark, who has worked for Steve Hoskin Construction for 15 years, said, "It’s an absolutely lovely piece of kit. I wouldn’t go back to the CX250 after being on this. For starters the lifting aspect, so much more power when lifting stuff, the overall stability is phenomenal and the breakout force is impressive too."
QUOTE: "POWER WISE, THE JUMP BETWEEN THE CX250E AND THE CX300E IS MASSIVE, YOU REALLY NOTICE IT"
SUMMARY
Steve Hoskin Construction has a great reputation throughout the south west of England. It was good to find out more about their long term relationship with CASE and local dealer M&M Plant. However, it was fascinating to discover more about their forward thinking approach to the wellbeing and training of their staff. This family firm is well and truly on the case.