Meet Gareth Shaw: Hire, Parts and Transport at CPS

Date: 29/04/25

Gareth Shaw is one of the longest-serving team members at Central Power Services, having joined just before the turn of the millennium. With over 25 years of experience at CPS, he has witnessed the company’s growth and is the go-to person for product knowledge and engineering advice.

Joining the team as an engineer

Gareth started his career as an apprentice engineer in a cotton manufacturing factory. He then spent almost 15 years as a Fabrication Engineer building goods trailers – everything from welding and fabricating on 40-foot truck trailers, tipplers to box vans.

He joined CPS in 1999 as an Installation Engineer, and for over a decade worked out on sites ensuring generators were set up efficiently and safely. “My job was to install the generator, do the fuel pipe work, exhaust systems and all the sound attenuations, ” Gareth recalls. “I’ve travelled all over the country with CPS.”

He then moved into an office-based role as Parts Manager, handling over hundreds of thousands of pounds of sales a year.  

A varied day-to-day

Today, Gareth holds roles in Hire, Transport and Parts where his deep understanding of the generators and their servicing ensures smooth operations for CPS team and for customers. He is responsible for External Hire, so when engineers visit a job site to identify any faults or improvements, Gareth will order parts and ensure everything is ready for the next site visit. He also deals with parts for external sales, supporting customers who rely on CPS for reliable power solutions. He is also responsible to the Maintenance and up keeping of the transport fleet working closely with the Transport Manager.

“We’re also making sure that all our generator fleet is maintained to the highest possible standard,” he explains. “When one of our generators has been out on hire, it doesn’t leave our warehouse again until it has been thoroughly inspected and had any necessary servicing work completed.”

Although his role is mostly office-based, Gareth continues to be hands-on with projects, occasionally heading out on site to help install generators and providing product advice to the team.

Part of the company’s history and growth

Reflecting on his time with CPS, Gareth explains how the company’s expansion hasn’t diminished its close-knit culture. “When I joined, CPS was a small family business. Now it’s grown, but the team is just as friendly and hardworking.”

He has been involved in a wide variety of projects. When he first joined, much of the work was installing brand-new generators in hospitals. Now, CPS works with an incredibly wide-ranging mix of customers: “Recently, we’ve powered a lot of hospitality projects, from Christmas Markets to Ice Rinks, as well as weddings and other functions. We get lots of repeat orders and have customers that we’ve been working with for years.”

He added: “We’re also seeing increasing demand for convenience food and drive thru restaurants, helping them to open the facilities quicker, without needing to wait to be connected to the grid.”

The team also collaborates with other generator companies local to the CPS headquarters in the North West, stepping in to supply larger generators for them when needed.

With decades of experience under his belt, and an extensive knowledge of generators, parts, and how to install them and keep them running smoothly, Gareth is a key member of the team, ensuring CPS can continue to deliver reliable power solutions to customers across the UK.

For more information on career opportunities at Central Power Services’ Preston, Cannock, and Leeds locations, visit our careers page here.

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