CITS LATEST POLICE TRAINING EVENT - FLANNERY PLANT HIRE, WARRINGTON
The Combined Industry Theft Solutions (CITS) group, in partnership with police and industry partners, held the first police training event of 2026 at leading UK plant hirer, Flannery, at their new depot in Warrington.
On the 25th of February 2026, police and leading security experts from industry came together for a one-day special training event, which also took place on the launch day of the new Flannery’s depot.
The event was opened by CITS Chairman and the Clancy Groups head of security, Ian Elliott. As part of the day, Input was given by specialist officers including Andrew Huddleston (KPM) from the National Construction and Agricultural Theft Team (NCATT) and Police liaison officers of the official CESAR security marking Scheme. As well as input from Kirsty Hyslop, NFU Mutual’s vehicle crime and MI Specialist, Eurig Price, Technical manager from Leica Geosystems, and Group head of security, Seumas Ascott of J Murphy & Son’s.
The specialist event welcomed over 50 police officers from regional and specialist police forces. These invaluable events are aimed to highlight the current threats and the importance of working in partnerships to tackle crime, in particular to the construction and agricultural sectors. The events are also supported by the Home Office industry scheme, CESAR, which helps identify ownership of plant and machinery used on both farms and construction sites.
Officers also had the opportunity to learn about the new RAPID (Registered Asset Police Information Database) search application, which is a powerful web-based search tool designed to significantly enhance the speed and efficiency of plant and machinery identification.
The event was also supported by the National Construction and Agricultural Theft Team (NCATT).
Ian Elliott CITS Chairman commented on the success of the day,
“These training events are invaluable to forces especially in times of scarce resource, at CITS we promote a partnership approach to help deter theft in our sectors. The feedback from the officers on the day was exceptionally positive and makes the efforts from all involved worthwhile.”
Gareth Corbett, Director at Flannery Plant hire commented,
“Construction and agricultural equipment theft continues to have a significant impact on our industry, our clients, and the communities we work in. That’s why Flannery is proud to support this CITS Police training event alongside the National Construction and Agricultural Theft Team.
By hosting the event at our Warrington depot, we’re helping bring police forces and industry together to share intelligence, improve detection techniques, and give officers the practical knowledge needed to identify stolen plant and disrupt organised criminal activity. Collaboration is essential if we’re going to reduce theft across the sector, and we’re fully committed to playing our part in that effort. ”
CITS is an industry forum comprising of representatives from the Home Office, Police, Insurers and Industry will continue to host a series of further, free to attend, police only training events in 2026.
Officers should register their interest for future events, with faye@cits.uk.com.
Further details can be found on the CITS website www.cits.uk.com
