Winter gritting 2009/10 

The Met Office has released their first forecast for the winter ahead.  Whilst we shouldn’t expect a winter as harsh as last years, we can still look forward to a cold, wet winter; Ideal conditions for icy road surfaces.

Our winter gritting teams are geared up for the harsh winter ahead and customer numbers have already exceeded last year’s level. Enquiries are also at an all time high as the business community takes steps earlier than usual to protect themselves from the perils of icy car parks and footways on their premises.  

Richard Hughes, MITIE’s Winter Maintenance Manager said, “There’s been an extremely high level of interest in our gritting service this year and it’s unusually early too.  Traditionally we have always seen a slow start to the season as businesses wait for the first frost of the winter before making a decision on appointing a winter gritting supplier”.  

“Not so, this year.  I think the ravages of last winter have given the business community a reminder of how dramatically their operation can be affected by icy weather.  They don’t want to be caught out again”  

Our Met Office driven winter gritting service is enjoyed by more than 1,000 customers throughout the length and breadth of the UK. This winter we will add satellite tracking to its fleet of gritting vehicles to provide customers with more real time information on the progress of gritting on their sites.  

Added to the already impressive range of customer communication systems including SMS/email notification of gritting activity and on-line access to a site’s gritting history, Our offering looks appealing to those who want a reliable, controllable and cost effective winter gritting service.  

Signing up for the service is usually free and you only pay for the grits you receive. Customers also have the flexibility to turn on, and off the service as they choose which gives a level of flexibility almost unique in this market.  

If you’d like to find out more about the service, contact our winter gritting helpdesk on 0845 869 7949 or email D-ice@mitie.co.uk.