A New Approach to knowledge sharing

The UK’s winter service industry has undergone somewhat of a revolution over the last decade. The industry has seen a number of developments, all designed to drive sustainability – from improved forecasting and monitoring solutions, to better application and storage methods.

However, the industry in general is suffering from a knowledge gap. Many key industry practitioners have recently changed roles or retired, making it harder for local authorities, private contractors and TMCs to keep up with the latest developments.

Enter ‘A New Winter Approach’ – we’re six industry experts who have collaborated to bring a series of UK-wide roadshows to the winter maintenance industry.

Our aim for these roadshows is to showcase the latest winter maintenance innovations, while also offering a unique networking and knowledge sharing opportunity. We’ll be holding highly targeted events in specific UK regions, with each agenda set to cover specific issues experienced within each region.

Creating a sustainable winter maintenance strategy

The pressure is on local authorities to do ‘more for less’ in the current era of budget cuts, and although the industry has started looking at how to become more sustainable in order to make savings, it can be a challenge to filter through all the information available to choose the most sustainable option.

A New Winter Approach addresses these issues by specifically focussing on the innovations that will offer value and sustainability to the winter maintenance industry for many years to come.

These innovations are brought to delegates at our events through best practice examples, including applied case studies, industry trial results, and practical workshops.

Our regional workshops have a firm focus on case-study based innovation and education. They provide winter practitioners with the opportunity to learn about the application of new technologies and gives them time to network with their peers – all in one single day.

Richard Hogg, MetDesk

Collaborative working

Attending one of the A New Winter Approach events also gives the industry a unique opportunity to meet the key winter maintenance players from their local region, giving attendees the chance to network with colleagues from neighbouring councils and national highway authorities, as well as share best practice information about how they approach the winter season.

Part of this knowledge sharing takes place during an interactive Q&A session, involving a panel of experts answering questions set by the delegates themselves.

Over 50 delegates from local authorities, private contractors and TMCs attended our inaugural event in London in September 2019. Despite working in closely as neighbouring authorities, this was the first-time many people had met face-to-face, and many attendees cited the networking opportunities as one of the highlights of the day.

It’s a rare occurrence to get so many industry experts together, I’ve never seen so many London Boroughs in one room.

Richard Hayes (former Chief Executive of the Institute of Highway Engineers)

Interested in attending?

Our events are free to attend and is accredited by the Institute of Highways Engineers, awarding attendees 5 hours of CPD points.

If you would like to be added to the mailing list to be informed about our next event in Wales, or any future events, email gemma@anewwinterapproach.co.uk

Who’s involved?

A New Winter Approach is a collaboration between six winter maintenance industry leaders who are passionate about creating a sustainable future; Econ, Eurodome, Exactrak, MetDesk, Peacock Salt and Winter Service Solutions.