Star Platforms

Star Platforms is a privately owned company. Its Reading and Berkshire depot opened in November 2017 and serves Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The depot invested over £3 million in new access platform hire equipment. It hires equipment from manufacturers Skyjack, Niftylift and Power Towers. Customers include contractors, construction companies and artists. The Reading depot is a fully accredited MEWP training centre offering IPAF training, including on Saturdays.

Craig Brown is a foreman at the Reading depot and a certified instructor. The depot offers cherry picker hire, scissor lift hire, IPAF training, machine sales and fleet sales. Richard Miller and Steve Simmons are Joint Managing Directors. Bryan Freeman is Sales Director. Ian Mitchell is Operations Director. John Aubin is Technical Director. Sonia Taylor is Customer Services Director. Michelle Timms is Group Commercial Director. Richard Stok is Director of the Data Centre Division.

Star Platforms, based at Aldermaston near Reading, draws consistent praise for its instructor Mark, whose name features throughout accounts of the IPAF courses offered on site. Trainees on the 3a and 3b programmes repeatedly highlight how thoroughly the theory is explained and how patiently each machine is demonstrated before anyone operates it, with several noting that this preparation made the practical assessments feel manageable and let them pass at the first attempt in confident frame of mind. The pace and organisation of the sessions attract frequent mention, described as smooth, professional and free of unnecessary stress, while the material is made meaningful rather than simply recited.

Beyond the training centre, feedback also covers the hire side of the business, where plant and machinery supplied to customers arrives in sound condition and clearly maintained, suggesting the same care applies across both services. Reviewers keep returning to the clarity of instruction, the approachable manner of the trainer and the usefulness of what is taught, with the tailored machines and hands-on practical element a theme raised again and again. It is the teaching of Mark that customers most often single out for credit.