As 2022 draws to a close, it’s a good time to look back at the past year and take stock of where we are as we head into 2023.
There’s no doubt, it has been a tough year. Just as we’re putting the worst of the Covid19 pandemic behind us, we’ve been hit with new global challenges including supply chain disruption, the energy crisis and rising inflation which are all impacting on our operations.
However, as a business, we have and continue to weather these storms better than most. I am really pleased at how we have all pulled together to secure new work, deliver existing contracts and reduce operational costs across the business. The forecasts suggest that both the global and indeed national challenges will be felt for a couple of years, so it’s important that we don’t become complacent and continue to adapt and respond accordingly, ensuring the long term sustainability of the business.
One of our core values is “Safety is our Business”. It is at the very heart of what we do. Every service we provide from traffic management to arboriculture services, from digital products to barrier systems is delivered to improve the safety of road workers and road users. We have a long and hard-earned reputation for safety standards.
Unfortunately, in 2022, we have had a number of incidents which have had to be reported under RIDDOR. We’ve had slips, trips and falls, many of which could have been avoided by simply focusing on the basics. For example, we provide PPE to keep you safe, but we need you to follow our PPE regulations without exception. We need you to wear the correct gear, tighten your chin straps, switch on your headtorches when necessary, report near misses (such as under maintained verges) and work with our H&S teams to continually deliver our high standards of safety. These are simple actions which are so important. We need every employee to take personal responsibility to ensure that health and safety remains our business.
On a more positive note, it was fantastic to officially launch the Enhanced Mobile Carriageway Closure (EMCC) at Highways UK in November. This is new way of doing lane closures on motorways and dual carriageways which Chevron TM and HRS have developed, trialled, and has now been accepted by National Highways as an approved method of working. It has been described as a game-changer by the industry and is already delivering significant benefits to road workers, contractors, road users and indeed the environment. I have no doubt that EMCC will become a standard way of working in the very near future. I’d also like to mention Keith Smith, our Group Chief Engineer, who has gone above and beyond over the past 14 months to take what was a concept over a cup of tea to reality.
For me, personally and for many colleagues, the toughest thing we faced this year was the death of our valued colleague, Kevin Jarvis from Golden Orb, who was tragically killed in an accident while doing his job on behalf of Chevron Traffic Management. The circumstances of Kevin’s death shook us to the core. It breaks our hearts that Kevin didn’t go home to his wife and family on that awful morning of the 26th of February. We still remember Kevin with great fondness as a lovely man who was taken far too soon.
It has been a tough year in many ways but what always makes things easier is the spirit and camaraderie of the people who work across the Chevron Group. We really do have the most exceptional team of people working in our business. I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your hard work and commitment during the year and to wish you and your families a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
Tim Cockayne CEO
For anyone working in high speed, you are likely to be aware of the new Enhanced Mobile Carriageway Closure (EMCC) technique which Chevron TM developed with HRS.
For anyone who isn’t aware of EMCC, this is the story of how Chevron TM and HRS delivered a new technique which has been described as a gamechanger for the industry.
The EMCC is a new way of providing traffic management for carriageway works which removes the need to request a rolling roadblock, provides guaranteed start times and longer working windows, enables night works to change to daytime works and minimises the need for diversions. It uses vehicles which display an authorised sign to take control of traffic and are supported by HRS Intellicone® Incursion Prevention & Warning System (IIPAW®) and CCTV cameras.
The development of the EMCC technique was led by our Group Chief Engineer, Keith Smith and involved a series of trials and testing since May 2020 before it was finally accepted by National Highways for use on two, three and four-way carriageways. To find out more about the technique and how it came about, check out Keith’s interview with HighwaysIndustries.com or watch our EMCC video via the QR code below.
We formally launched EMCC at Highways UK in November. This is a taster of some of the feedback we received…
Martin Dewsnap, Works Manager for VolkerFitzpatrick said that using EMCC “saved several night-time closures and allowed work to flow on day shift by sterilising the flow of traffic to allow crane movements.”
“One of the best innovations to come into the traffic management for years, I think the potential for this goes way past just installation and can see it becoming a vehicle used on 12A major scheme works.” Steve Smale
“An interesting development. One to keep an eye on. Well done Keith (and Chevron )” Andrew Sturrock.
We were delighted to welcome Herts Traffic Management to the Chevron Group in August. With depots at Watford, Essex and Gatwick, Herts operates in London and Southeast England with a strong presence in the utilities sector.
Since joining the Chevron Group, the Herts team has been enhancing our progression into the London urban market. They recently worked with one of their utility customers to deliver UTC (Urban Traffic Control) which provides the ability to integrate portable traffic control with a permanent traffic control system.
Technology allows the UTC control unit to be connected to the HA network by either 3g/4g or by ADSL connection but what makes this unique for the Chevron Group is that the installation and configuration was undertaken on site by a Herts engineer.
We normally subcontract this work so it is a great achievement to be able to now do this in-house.
So Chris, first things first, what exactly is Business Development?
Quite simply, business development is about supporting the growth of the business by securing new contracts. It’s about winning work. It’s about ensuring that we deliver for our customers every single time so that they will continue to do business with us and it’s about building and promoting our reputation to new customers and in new sectors so we can secure additional work.
Marvin Gayle joined the business in June as our Group Business Development Manager and Rob Bucci joined as Group Business Delivery but it is really important to stress that BD is bigger than Marvin, Rob and I. We have been working with the Regional Managing Directors across the group to create a team of BD Leads who will coordinate opportunities at a regional, entity or divisional level. This will help us assess opportunities and look at where we can add value, for example can we add
digital products or is there an opportunity for Chevron Green Services or HBS barriers.
And of course, we work closely with the Bid Team and our estimators to ensure that we submit the best possible tenders and quotes when the opportunities arise.
But the BD team doesn’t finish there.
The BD team is every employee who works across the Chevron Group because ultimately, we are only as good as our last job. If we don’t deliver a first-class service every time, we won’t have returning customers and we won’t have a reputation to convince new customers to put their trust in the Chevron Group. So we need everyone to wear the BD hat and be part of the team the delivers growth.
What will we see in the New Year?
Hopefully we will see new opportunities, new contracts and new work. That is the ultimate goal. We have invested in a new system, Hubspot which allows us
to record, manage and maximise all new leads and opportunities across the group and we have our BD leads in place so we are well positioned to hit the ground running in 2023 and build on the work we have started.
At the moment we have 389 strategic network opportunities with the Bid Team and a further 1119 opportunities with our estimators for works through to 2024. The opportunities are there. We need to work strategically as a BD team to secure the contracts we want and build for our future.
Innovation, technology and digital services are driving traffic management into the future. More and more schemes are using digital products to improve safety, deliver operational efficiencies and reduce carbon emissions.
The Chevron Group, led by HRS is proud to be leading the way in bringing innovation and digital services to our clients. It is our vision that digital traffic management becomes the norm across the industry as more and more customers and TM companies embrace the improvements which technology brings.
The launch of the Enhanced Mobile Carriageway Closure (EMCC) is an excellent example of how we have worked with the industry to create a new technique for implementing carriageway closures which has been accepted by National Highways. The use of HRS’ Intellicone® Incursion Prevention and Warning technology has enabled us to enhance an existing technique to make it workable, safer and accepted by both National Highways and the wider industry.
Of course, Intellicone® is just one of a range of products and services which HRS offer. There is also Intelliframe®, Intellicam®, Customer Communication Terminal (CCT) to name a few which are making a big difference to the safety of road workers.
For example, Intellicam® was installed at a
road closure
In spite of installing a manned closure, Chevron TM and Wessex Water were facing a significant number of incursions with drivers moving barriers, mounting the pavement, threatening workers and endangering the lives of families, holidaymakers and local residents.
On this occasion, body cameras were ineffective.
When Intellicam® was installed with accompanying CCTV signage, the number of incursions dropped from hourly to two in an eight-week period.
This is the difference digital technology can make. It is effective, immediate, easy to install and most importantly, it keeps road workers safe!
HRS are in their new home. The long-anticipated move to new premises has finally taken place. After many long months of building works, HRS employees moved into their stunning new building and it looks amazing.
It really is a state-of-the-art facility which has the capacity to host customer demonstration days as well as allow collaboration across the Chevron Group and the wider industry.
We wish HRS every success in their home!
Championing our customers is one of our core values. We work every day to deliver for our customers so it is always a pleasure when they take time to tell us what they think. Here is some of the feedback we’ve received over the past few months…
“I work at Avon Fire & Rescue Service Workshop in Avonmouth, Bristol and I’d like to say how polite & professional your traffic management crew have been. Recently the road was closed for works which meant we had to go through the road closure to reach our workshop. The crew were great, very polite & professional even at 3am.
They are a credit to your company, please pass our very best on to them.”
Well done Carlton Hillberg, Lewis Gould, Kai Jones, and Martin James from Newport depot.
Working in the rain is never nice but when two children take time to stop with a hand-written note and leave you a gift it makes it all worthwhile. This is what happened to Rob Storey from our Redford depot. The note said, “thank you for working in horrible weather especially the traffic light worker. We didn’t have to wait for long. We had two cracked windscreens in the past year but we won’t anymore because you are fixing our road. Thank you from Scarlett and Austin.”
“I am pleased to inform you that Chevron Traffic Management has achieved three Costain Blue standard performance certificates as a consequence of exceptional performance over two consecutive quarters on the Birtley to Coalhouse, the M1 J1316 Tranche 3 and the Preston Western Distributor works.
We thank you for your consistent high performance and ask that on behalf of David, Sue, Russell, John, David Forbes and Sarah, you pass this on to your team.”
Good job to all at Warrington, Newcastle and Tring depots.
Shift Traffic Events received this acknowledgement from Humberside Police.
“May I express my appreciation for the loan of a set of traffic lights at very short notice. We needed a set to protect a section of a country lane on a blind bend, where two of my operatives were working. A set was made available free of charge, allowing the guys to perform their tasks safely, causing minimum disruption to the travelling public.
It is refreshing that a commercial entity like yourselves still appreciates the work that we do and are supportive of the same.”
“Please pass on thanks to the guys from your Newport depot that have been working on the A20 closures. I was very impressed at the knowledge shown by all and the support they gave to our guys when things didn’t go to plan. The professionalism shown was second to none!”
Doug Whiitford, Milestone InfrastructureWell done Newport!
We have a team of fantastically generous employees across the group who support company organised events or who give their time and money to help those in need. To you all, we say Thank You!
Sue Williams from Chevron Green Services is a serial adventurer! She has walked the Inca Trail, in Peru; climbed Kilimanjaro; walked the Sanctuary Train in Nepal; climbed to Everest Base Camp; trekked in Cambodia, explored the Gokyo Lakes in Nepal; adventured in the Grand Canyon and walked in Thailand. She has just returned from her most recent adventure, trekking the Avenue of Volcanoes in Ecuador.
Behind all of these adventures, Sue has been quietly raising much-needed funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. To date, Sue has raised more than £35,000 and counting to help those suffering from cancer.
And not to miss an opportunity to promote the great services of the Chevron Group, Sue took her Chevron Green T-Shirt with her so she could be pictured the top of Quilotoa in Ecuador!
What a fantastic achievement! Well done Sue!
Earlier this year, we donated a consignment of 7,000 pens to Pens for Kids UK for use in Early Years Education and Child Development Centres (EYE) in Homa Bay County, Kenya.
We take pens for granted but this is what it meant to Richard Ochieng Bonyo, National Coordinator for the Keyopi Society.
“We are humbled. Our kids queued at the centres to get and use these pens. Enrolment in all these Centres nearly doubled. We are touched. We truly appreciate your partnership.”
Small gestures can mean so much. Chevron TM is proud to support children at home and abroad.
We have a fantastic relationship with the British Forces Resettlement Service (BFRS) and the Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) so it was an honour to support their Tommy Tea event to raise money for armed force veterans. And of course, the tea and cakes went down a treat across our depots.
Food bank charity, the Trussell Trust gives out an emergency food parcel every 13 seconds! For the first time ever, this year they are giving out more food than is donated. These are shocking statistics, and it is why we decided to support this brilliant charity once again. Last year depots and functions across the group donated food and toiletries to help those who are struggling and we did the same again this year. Every donation makes a real difference so we want to say a massive thank you to you all.
We were delighted to support Costain’s PWDR Halloween charity welly walk in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support in October. Costain organised a community event for local people to walk a section of the road before it opened to the public while raising £3,000 for a fantastic charity.
From photographers to pipers, from TV stars to authors, there are some amazing talents hidden within the ranks of the Chevron Group. We don’t think they should be hidden so this is our chance to shine a light on them.
If you’re a fan of sci-fi books and films, you will have heard of Terry Prachett. So imagine, writing a book which is compared to this legendary author. This is exactly what has happened to Chris Winship from our Tring depot.
Chris’ hobby is writing stories. This year Pegasus Publishers printed his most recent novel, The Discount Multiverse and it is now available to purchase! And this is how Pegasus reviewed the book…
“This is a wonderful book, paying homage in equal parts to the greats of humorous sci-fi novels Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams…It is a superb adventure interwoven with very funny role players and scenes. It really is a great book.”
Chris has already written the next in the series and submitted it to the publisher. He plans to carry on this series as long as possible. We think this is fantastic. Well done Chris!
Congratulations to Shaun Lee from our Newcastle depot who made his TV screen debut on a BBC documentary called We are England A1 By Night which shines a spotlight on resurfacing works which took place on the A1 during the summer.
Shaun highlighted the risks which road workers face each shift while they do their jobs.
Well done Shaun! Next step I’m a Celebrity! Check out the programme on BBC iPlayer.
Class One TM Contracts Manager, Stephen Briody is the head piper in the Uddingston Strathclyde Pipe Band in Scotland. Earlier this year, the band competed in the Scottish Championships where their Drummers became Scottish Champions and the band ranked in 3rd place overall.
Congratulations Stephen.
There is always something magical about a beautiful sky that makes you just stand still for a moment and take it all in.
Leah Clein from our Warrington depot stood still for a moment to capture this beautiful sky on the M55 and won Costain’s PWDR (Preston Western Distributor Road) Photograph of the Month competition.
Phil Last has joined the Chevron Group as our Group Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Manager. We caught up with Phil to find out more about him and what drives his focus on health & safety.
Like many people, it’s not where I initially thought I would build my career but an illness which left me temporarily paralysed and wheelchair bound for a year gave me a different perspective on life. I had to change careers from IT to logistics but I had a unique insight into the effect disablement can have on a person’s quality of life. I resolved to work as hard as a I could to ensure that the people in my care would not suffer a similar impact to their lives through an accident at work.
I started working as a forklift driver at DSV and progressed through the business, focussing on developing my skills in health & safety before I moved to PD Ports to pursue a full-time career in health and safety.
The Chevron Group is at the forefront of driving innovation and technology to keep everyone on the roads safe. It also flies its ESG credentials high which is very important to me.
Working with people at all levels to bring about meaningful improvements. Sometime even simple ideas can make the world of difference when it comes to safety and it’s the people on the front line who have the best ideas.
What are your plans for the Chevron
I will be rolling out a health and safety climate survey to get valuable insight into the thoughts and feelings about how health and safety works well or where improvements could be made.
Longer term I will be developing a strategy to improve health, safety and wellbeing in the business, but in the meantime I will be visiting depots to get to know you all. If you see me on your site, feel free to stop me for a chat and say hello!
Tell us an interesting fact about you.
I currently have an allotment where I grow most of my family’s fruit and veg throughout the year.
His job involves visiting all the Southeast depots whilst completing depot audits on the requirements of 9001, 14001 and 45001.
But outside of work, he’s a pretty handy footballer who made his professional debut for Woking Town at the age of 19. More recently, he signed for Bracknell town for the 22/23 season. The club are two leagues away from being a professional outfit. The chairman’s aspirations is to get there. Gary’s goal is to help the club reach that as soon as possible.
Back in October, we awarded 28 people with Long Service Awards which recognised employees who have been with the business for 10 years or more. Amazingly, Ronnie Duggan who works as an Estimator at Tring has been with us for an incredible 34 years! He said “It seems like only yesterday since I joined Chevron and watched the business grow. I want to say thank you to those I have had the privilege to work with. Long may it continue”
Check out this ecosphere which Martin Osman in Chevron Green Consultancy designed. It is a type of “bug hotel” where bugs and beasties can access the shelter from whichever angle they come across the structure.
These Ecospheres can be built on clients’ sites, depots and workplaces, using the vegetation, tree stumps and other green waste removed from the site of their projects. They are a great way to use up green waste and enhance biodiversity
Is there anything more festive than the sparkling, twinkling Christmas lights that are getting switched on in towns and cities across the UK?
Name Business LOS Depot
Louise Donaldson
Chevron 10 Head Office
Ross OHanlon Chevron 10 Thatcham Depot
Morgan Thompson Chevron 10 Manchester Depot
Dale Courtman HRS 11 Bottesford
James Jarrett HRS 11 Bottesford
Lisa Killinger Chevron 10 Head Office
Roger Poeth HRS 11 Bottesford
Lewis Ansell
Darren Clarke
Chevron 20 Tring Depot
Chevron 20 Newport Depot
Martin Derrick Chevron 20 Finedon Depot
Richard Frearson Chevron 20 Finedon Depot
Michael Harvey Chevron 20 Leeds Depot
Colin Hicks Chevron 20 Head Office
Adam Longbottom Chevron 20 Finedon Depot
David McLellan
Chevron 20 Tring Depot
David Rigden Chevron 20 Newport Depot
Dan Williams Chevron 21 Tring Depot
James Smith
Class one 20 Class One
Leon Leverett Chevron 24 Tring Depot
Allan Underwood
Chevron 23 Tring Depot
Jason Houghton Chevron 22 Leeds Depot
Robert Cooper Chevron 21 Finedon Depot
Scott Marshall
Chevron 21 Head Office
Matt Hammond Chevron 20+ Detling Depot
Adrian King
Chevron 20+ Detling Depot
David Jay Russell Chevron 20+ Detling Depot
George Gurr
Chevron 20+ Detling Depot
Ronald Duggan Chevron 34 Tring Depot
Shift Traffic Events have been busy helping create the festive vibe across London. They have provided traffic management services to Unusual Rigging & James Glancy Designs who install and test the lighting in Regent Street, Carnaby Street, Picadilly and Seven Dials.
They look amazing!
The Chevron Group has a fantastic team of people working across the UK and as we continue to grow and expand, we are constantly bringing new people into the business and providing training opportunities to ensure that our people are the best in the business.
But who are the people delivering on our recruitment and training needs?
Many of you will know our extremely talented Talent team, led by Shirley Young and supported by Talent Acquisition Business Partners, Gemma Strickland, Ilana Garman and Kayleigh Ashton. Shannon Pocock was part of the team until very recently when he headed off to the sunny beaches of Australia’s Gold Coast. These are the people who fill all the vacancies within the business.
Then we have the exceptionally hard-working Training team, led by Lesley McGowan and supported by Training Business Partners, Diane Farr and Paula Caffyn as well as 3 trainers and 5 assessors.
Both teams are always extremely busy and with a growing workforce of 1787 employees, it is not surprising, but we thought we’d give you a flavour of just how busy they’ve been in 2022.
Dan Palmer joined Chevron Green Services in September as a Business Development Manager.
Dan started his career as a tree surgeon before working his way through the ranks to join an arb consultancy. For the past three years, Dan has worked at Kier and National Highways as a Landscape Manager, working as a client of Chevron Green
The
Right:
Together they have… processed 18,382 job applications conducted 3440 telephone interviews arranged 751 manager interviews made 673 job offers (until end Oct) started 618 new employees from Jan to Oct reduced time to hire from 8 weeks to 3 weeks
completed 618 induction & mandatory training courses reduced cancelled and missed training courses by 75% delivered 230 inhouse Gate Person Airlock courses scheduled training for 2319 employees completed 300 digital logbooks been working with Lantra to move to virtual cards
And they do this all with a great attitude, a determination to support our growth and always with massive smiles.
Services on several projects in the east of England.
As our Business Development Manager, Dan’s role takes him all over the country, developing new ideas for the business, promoting our full range of services to our clients and supporting the senior management team with the company vision.
Welcome to the team, Dan!
We launched Fill Your Boots in July and since then more and more employees are signing up and enjoying great discounts and savings.
In fact, employees who use Fill Your Boots have saved an incredible £4,200 in just four months! They are saving on everything from groceries to electronics, from hotels to holidays, from furniture to fashion with over 800 retailers. With Christmas coming, it’s a great place to save money.
If you haven’t signed up, you could be missing out. Check your emails for an email from Fill Your Boots Support which allows you to activate your account. It’s that simple!
Or download the SmartSavings app using the QR codes below.
Fill Your Boots is your platform. The more you use it, the more you will benefit from it so login and start saving! To find out more about the platform, contact shirley.young@ChevronTM.com.
* Fill Your Boots is currently unavailable to Class One TM and Shift Traffic Events.