With Siberian winds sweeping in from the East, snow falling across the country, and predicted temperatures feeling like -15 degrees, Mitie's winter maintenance team is geared up for action in a bid to keep Britain moving and protect the public from slips, trips and falls on icy grounds.
During one of the coldest winters in recent history, Mitie's gritting team has been kept busy with more gritting visits than ever before. The 2017-18 winter season has brought the most snow and ice since 2010 and the coldest February in decades.
This week is set to be busier than the wintriest weekend so far, this season when from 6 to 11 December, Mitie's winter maintenance teams carried out a staggering 11,200 gritting visits in less than 72 hours. As well as the weather keeping 300 of Mitie's gritting trucks busy over the white weekend, the team also cleared 1,000 sites of snow, helping to keep the country's retail, travel and healthcare sectors moving.
So far, this season, Mitie's winter maintenance team has carried out over 200,000 gritting visits, using almost 15,000 tonnes of salt, travelling a total of 850,000 miles, from the Outer Hebrides to the Isle of Wight – that's the equivalent of three and a half times the distance from the earth to the moon.
Mitie's customers have been able to take full advantage of its new 'Go-Grit' app which allows the management of an entire winter services portfolio, in real time, via any mobile device. Go-Grit uses an interactive mapping system of customer sites, tracking the weather impact and high-risk areas in a real-time format. Forecast data is provided directly by the Met Office, ensuring clients remain up-to-date with the most accurate information.
Key features of the app include a complete schedule of when and where sites are due to be gritted and the ability to cancel, restore and request an ad-hoc visit with the touch of a button.
Richard Hughes, General Manager of Mitie’s Winter Maintenance, said:
“Winter is back with a vengeance as the so-called 'Beast from East' makes its way from Siberia to our snowy shores. Whilst the rest of the population snuggle up in the warm, Mitie's winter maintenance team is out braving the elements to keep roads safe and Britain on the move during our busiest winter season yet."
Notes to editors
For more information about Mitie’s winter services, please view the winter maintenance pages on our website:
https://www.mitie.com/services/environmental/winter-maintenance/
About Mitie
Mitie is a FTSE 250 business providing a wide range of facilities management and professional services, from real estate consultancy, project management, energy consultancy, compliance, risk assessment and security systems to cleaning, catering, engineering, technical and environmental services and a range of specialist services.
We work in partnership with organisations to deliver long-term savings, managing and maintaining some of the nation's most recognised landmarks for a range of blue-chip public and private sector customers.
We are the UK's largest Facilities Management Company, employing some 53,000 people across the country.
