Gritting Case Studies

In 2018 after a full tender Nurture was awarded a 1 year contract for the entire South division portfolio. From the successful implementation and excellent service delivered through the 2018/19 season, Workman have extended this contract for a further 2 seasons. Combined with the other regions, the full Workman portfolio across the whole United Kingdom is now at over 370 sites.

Innovation:

This growth is testament to the hard work and diligence of Nurture’s Gritting teams and our bespoke cradle to grave Ice Master CRM system that is able to provide the most up to date information and reports whenever requested. The transparency of the service delivery and total communication process in place means that all Workman sites and managers are fully informed and up to date. It was this exceptional service across a very large portfolio that meant that Workman did not tender this summer but instead decided to extend the contract by a further 2 years.

50/50 contracts:

Nurture offer a unique way of managing the payments/costs of the gritting services which allows the risk of winter costs to be shared between both parties. It is a hybrid of the CPV (cost per visit) and Fixed Cost options. 50% of the full fixed cost price is invoiced at the start of the season, with each gritting service visit completed billed at 50% of the CPV price. The financial risks associated with the winter are therefore shared between Nurture and Workman to prevent too much overspend on budgets during a harsh winter but also allowing for a reduction in spend during a milder winter.

This has been very successful with Workman particularly as more than half of their sites have taken this option up due to the benefits of shared risk.

The contract is run through Bellrock FM but due to the nature of the contract and specific requirements of each site, the majority of the contract support is direct with Roadchef.

Whilst the Roadchef sites are classed as retail, they are heavily governed by the requirements and standards laid down by the Highways Agency.

All motorway service stations must be available to provide essential services to the motorway users, and without fail, must remain continuously open 24/7, 365 days of the year.

The service delivery of this contract is testament to the hard work and diligence of Nurture’s Gritting teams and our bespoke cradle to grave Ice Master CRM system, which is able to provide the most up to date information and reports whenever requested.

It was this exceptional service across a very demanding portfolio, that meant that Roadchef continue to receive the best service delivery available in the industry.

Innovation:

Nurture’s Ice Master client portal also plays a pivotal role for Roadchef in the planning of their services to their own clients and road users.

By having a detailed understanding of imminent and future weather conditions, Roadchef are able to utilise this data for their own future strategic short-term purchasing plans.

Since the contract started, Roadchef have seen significant savings in their short-term spending by understanding correlations and patterns for weather conditions comparative to Motorway usage, which also reduces the amount of waste food produced.

Fixed Price Contracts:

The full winter season gritting service is covered through an agreed single fixed cost for the winter for each site, regardless of the weather or the number of service activations completed.

The problem:

Airbus had a number of issues surrounding how they were delivering the service.

• Staff were using free web forecasts to predict the weather for the next day. With no accurate details or data for road surface temperatures, rainfall and hour by hour forecasts.
• No winter risk management there was an increasing likelihood of a claim against their own insurance.
• Carrying out these extra gritting/snow clearing duties drew staff away from their normal duties. This also put staff behind schedule for ground maintenance, litter picking and cleaning duties.
• Staff overtime costs rose during cold weather periods.
• No modern equipment, with constant breakdowns and problems carrying out the service.

The Solution:

Nurture were approached by CBRE - Airbus and invited to provide an improvement to their current winter maintenance solution for their vast and highly complex site.

• Site specific forecasting systems were put in place to provide the ability to proactively service the site during inclement weather conditions, including a detailed hour by hour site specific forecast.
• We conducted pre-winter site visits by management and operators in order to map and learn the site, therefore adhering to all onsite H&S obligations and restrictions.
• CBRE & Airbus management received daily weather alerts for gritting, along with the ability to cancel consecutive visits if there was already salt on site.
• New and more efficient equipment was attributed to the site, reducing breakdowns and on site issues.

Valuation:

• A reduced amount of gritting completed by their own staff. Thus improving their other on site services and removing overtime costs in the winter months.
• An overall reduction in the number of service visits with highly accurate forecasts enabled a reduction in the overall cost of the service.
• Much improved service levels allowed for reduced complaints and issues on site, saving staff time and improving morale and work efficiency.
• The implementation of a high level of service with open communication to the Nurture Operating & Account Management team ensured Airbus peace of mind throughout the gritting season.

THE PROBLEMS

Chiltern Railways had a number of problems with how they were delivering the service

• They did not have access to a professional forecast service that showed road surface temperatures.
• They had to deal with the problems reactively once the hazards were on the ground .This put into question how effective they were dealing with the winter risk management and the likelihood of them having a claim of their insurance.
• Carrying out these extra gritting/snow clearing duties pulled staff away from their normal duties. Putting maintenance staff behind their schedule and staff from collecting ticketing sales.
• Staff overtime charges went up during cold weather periods.

THE SOLUTION

We were approached by Chiltern Railways and asked for a proposal on helping with their winter risk management

• Our forecasting system put in place the ability to grit proactively.
• We took over the gritting of car parks and outlying areas freeing staff to concentrate on platforms only.
• Chiltern received daily alerts for gritting.

VALUATION:

• The reduced amount of gritting to platforms only for the Chilterns allowed staff to catch up on their day to day schedule even in cold weather.
• The daily alerts allowed Chiltern to proactively grit platforms reducing overtime requirement.
• The gritting of unmanned station platforms at night was moved to us to reduce Chiltern costs further.