Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week 2022

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During National Apprentice Week 2022, we are shining the spotlight on the members of our team who came to us over the years as apprentices and celebrating what they have achieved so far. We have had 9 staff members join us at an apprentice level, with 8 of them continuing with us after the completion of their apprentices.

Our longest serving former apprentice is Rebecca Prince, who joined Bartco UK as a Business Administration apprentice in 2015 and quickly progressed in the company to her current role as Purchasing and Stock Control Supervisor. Working alongside Bec in Purchasing and Stock Control is Pip Wood, who joined the Bartco UK team in early 2019 as an apprentice. Pip is extremely dedicated to her skills development, taking on fire warden and manual handling training during her apprenticeship.

Also starting in 2015 was George Sheldon, who joined us as an apprentice after studying Electrical Engineering. George has since completed his level 3 apprenticeship in 2019, seeing him progress within the company to the role of Senior Workshop Technician with fellow former apprentice, Cain.

Since joining our apprenticeship programme in 2017, Cain Gregory has come on leaps and bounds professionally during his time here and has recently completed his apprenticeship. In an effort to further his skills, he has recently completed CAD training and is currently doing a supervisor training course. We were so impressed initially with Cain’s talent and work ethic during his work experience that we very quickly asked him to stay.

Our most recent apprentice is Jacob Spencer, who is in year 1 of his Technical Apprenticeship. In a similar fashion to Cain, Jacob quickly impressed us with his amazing work ethic and attitude. Jacob is perfectly suited to his role with us, allowing him to stay busy doing what he loves.

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director comments, “all the apprentices that have come through either MVIS or Bartco UK’s doors have been given the encouragement and space to develop their skills. We cannot recommend the recruitment of apprentices enough to employers looking for hard working and dedicated individuals.”

MVIS and Bartco UK want to take this opportunity to thank our apprentices, both past and present, for all their hard work.

For more information about our apprentice program, please contact us on +44 (0) 3300 080 366 or email info@bartco-uk.com.

Working with Suppliers on Our Collective Responsibility to the Environment

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Most companies that operates in the Traffic Management industry, along with many other businesses across the UK rely on some kind of company vehicle. We rely on our vehicles for a number of activities, most important of which is the core of our service- delivering portable ITS solutions for the safety of our customers and the general public.

With a company vehicle comes other responsibilities, including that which we owe to the environment as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility Policy.

One of the biggest responsibilities we have when it comes to company vehicles is the decision over how we fuel them. With so many corporate fuel payment solutions available, it can be difficult to pick the one which offers the best value for money.

However, this decision is a lot more important than to consider just value for money. In line with our responsibilities, we are required to have a keen understanding of our suppliers to ensure that they share our commitment to the environment and sustainability.

For this reason, we use the Allstar fuel payment card, which offers a reliable solution as the UK’s leading fuel card provider.

As a member of the Allstar EcoPoint carbon mitigation programme, in partnership with GreenPrint, we share Allstar’s commitment to safeguarding the environment and in partnership with them, we have already contributed to the planting of over 5.8 million trees, which over time will help to off-set over 1.4 million tonnes of C02 from the atmosphere.  

The programme works in a similar fashion to our own. On behalf of Allstar and their customers, GreenPrint will oversee the purchasing of ‘carbon credits’, which are then, in part, converted into planted trees, supporting forestry projects around the world.

From January 2022, in addition to this, Allstar are also incorporating international renewable energy projects, industrial process improvement, transportation efficiency and landfill gas capture projects that support, like all of their investments, local and global communities and their environment – all for a small fee per card per month.

Not only does this help Allstar meet their corporate social responsibilities over sustainability and the environment, but it also helps us. It makes Allstar more attractive to work with to help meet our commitments regarding supplier responsibility, at the same time as compounding the impact of our own efforts. 

For more information about MVIS environmental policies, please see the ‘Environment’ section on our Safety Hub.

Fresh talent brings new energy and ideas to MVIS

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Recently we have taken on several new members of staff which has brought new levels of excitement and enthusiasm to MVIS. Towards the end of last year, we welcomed our new Office Manager Sean Gardner to the team who brings with him over 10 years of experience in staff management. 

As we entered the new year, we welcomed two more new starters, Alex and Mia, and have a third starting with us this week, Clair.

By recruiting Alex, Mia and Clair, we strengthened both our in-house Marketing Department and Customer Relations team. In less than one month of taking on new team members, we have already reaped the benefits of their diverse skillset and could not be more excited about seeing them progress with us.

Our continual growth as a company means that we can expand our team to bring new talent, experience and perspectives into the group along with promoting staff from within to new roles. These perspectives allow us to ensure we are maintaining our high standards but also to learn new things from their skills and experience.

The office is experiencing an exciting atmosphere as a result of our new talent, and we are even more excited about what comes next for the rest of the year. 

Sean Gardner, Office Manager comments, “Since joining MVIS I have been welcomed and supported by the rest of the team. I look forward to doing the same by guiding our new members of staff, helping train them to keep our service levels at platinum level and keeping our customers happy”.

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director added, “It is always sad to say goodbye to long serving members of the team, but sometimes you realise when fresh talent comes into the company it was actually needed. The addition of new employees has brought diverse ideas, new skills, and a fresh perspective that helps us better serve our customers. We could not be more pleased with our new staff and what they have achieved so far. Already the additional marketing skills we now have in house have made a huge difference to the whole department, giving it fresh eyes and ideas, our social media has already had a much-needed refresh. It has been an exciting time for everyone as we’ve welcomed new members to the team and given me the opportunity to push the business forward even more with the talent we now have”.

Recruiting Internally for Success

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As a group, MVIS and Bartco UK take pride in our ability to recognise talent and place skills in the right places. In the past we have relocated employees with talents in a specific skill to other departments in order to allow them to develop and grow more with the company than their previous role allowed.

But this approach brings with it more advantages than just personal development. As demonstrated by our cross-departmental training initiative, we find it to be of great benefit when our team are trained across departments. This allows each member of staff to gain a deeper appreciation of what team members in other departments are required to do. When staff understand this, everyone can work together more effectively.

One of our more recent shifts has been with Mizzy Watson. Having worked in Customer Relations for over 2 years, Mizzy has an excellent understanding of the products, how they work and importantly, what customers want. At the beginning of February, Mizzy transitioned from the MVIS Customer Relations team to Bartco UK’s Research and Development department, working alongside R&D Manager, Tom Hooton, as Research & Development Assistant.

Working with Mizzy will offer Tom not only another pair of hands to assist him with product development, but it also offers him a unique perspective in R&D and connects the department with direct customer experience.

Tom Hooton comments, “I’m really looking forward to working with Mizzy. Her previous role required her to have a keen attention to detail, which is so vital in this department. Combine this with her knowledge of the products and our customers and she’s perfect to work in R&D.”

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director added, “When a role arises within our group, it’s always great to promote from within, it pays to look internally to see if we already have the skills and experience in-house before we bring someone else in. We are all very excited to see what Mizzy and the R&D department can do.”

The VMS-A – More Than Traffic Management

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The original 5 colour VMS-A is one of our most popular and versatile products, offering a wide range of benefits that can be used for various applications.

From data collection to assisting with messaging needs for national emergencies, the VMS-A can be used for many tasks that break away from the traditional traffic management applications expected from ordinary portable variable message signs. 

Indeed, the VMS-A is no ordinary portable variable message sign. This unit strikes a perfect balance between the size of its footprint and screen size to allow it to be used for many applications for different industries, and when considering the technology that can be integrated with the VMS-A, it’s quite clear that this unit offers more than just traffic management.  

During the pandemic, we saw numerous deployments nationwide in town and city centres to help local authorities spread the right message.

We even worked with retail, who were dealing with crises of their own when certain stores were forced to close and others could stay open. Clear and concise messaging was important to guide customers at retail parks, inform on a store’s COVID policy or even to help manage queuing.

The VMS-A is also a called-on solution to help with messaging needs for local charities and events. We can deploy the VMS-A in locations with high footfall such as supermarket car parks to help charities promote or explain their campaigns. The Christmas Tractor even used a VMS-A to display sponsor’s logos on the sign and then promote them on Facebook. 

Another example is Ashgate Hospicecare’s annual Sparkle Walk, which requires the closure of roads across Chesterfield. Multiple VMS-A units are deployed around the affected areas a week prior to the event so that drivers are made aware of the upcoming disruption as well as helping to spread the message about the Sparkle Walk.

The VMS-A isn’t just for text – its 5 colour display makes it ideal for pictograms too. In traffic management applications, we traditionally apply this potential to speed roundels, road closures and any other traffic management pictogram signs. 

However, using a browser or mobile device, clients can display more than just the expected traffic signalling pictograms and recreate all sorts of images such as logos and other pictures with Web Studio or the Bartco LiveApp. 

The VMS-A’s integrations also make it nearly as functional as its primary purpose. Units discreetly contain a data collation radar that can be used to collect the following traffic data;

  • Speed
  • Time
  • Date

As a low-cost alternative to many data collection solutions on the market, the VMS-A is ideal to be used as a data source for the analysis of traffic trends, enabling greater intelligence for planning projects of all kinds.

This feature alone makes it more important than just a typical portable variable message sign. 

In the same way, a recent innovation of our VMS-A sees an environmental sensor integrated with it to offer clients the ability to monitor the external environment.

The ITS Integrated Environmental Sensor produces a wide range of air pollution data that can be used to inform and direct on issues of air pollution safety. This solution is a low-cost system that offers the ability to build a high-density ambient air quality monitoring network that records data in real-time.

With low power demands, integration with the VMS-A offers air quality monitoring in many applications, including but not limited to:

  • Work places/work areas
  • Construction site safety
  • Events
  • Town centres/cities
  • Urban roads / Highways

These applications make this product a useful tool for a variety of industries, organisations and projects concerned with air quality, such as schools, Tier 1 construction contractors and local authorities who may need such data for planning, safety or to measure changes. 

Another recent development of the VMS-A integrates CCTV, allowing you to have eyes on the ground without having to be physically present on-site.

The combined use of such technologies allows our VMS-A to offer an information, surveillance and feedback solution that can be used to monitor driver and pedestrian behaviour without having to be on-site.

The VMS CCTV is ideal for:

  • Queue management
  • Parking management
  • Works egress safety
  • Site safety
  • Events & wayfinding

As time goes on, it’s exciting to think about how the VMS-A will not only evolve but also impact new and familiar markets. Only last year, MVIS partnered with data sharing solutions specialists, Chordant, on a trial that showed how the VMS A data collection radar can act as a real-time portable traffic data system that produced comparable traffic speeds and flow relative to Coventry SCOOT data, exposed through Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) on the oneTRANSPORT Data Marketplace.

The implications of this project are far-reaching. Data, as a commodity, specifically in the name of safety, is a highly valuable asset that’s only becoming more important, as local authorities, traffic management companies and many other groups scramble to learn more about traffic trends. This data can be used in planning projects of many kinds and offers increased intelligence than can impact society in a wide range of ways.

There’s no telling where the current and future innovations of the VMS-A could lead, with integrations and potential uses that could help increase safety, monitor the environment, help with planning and even keep order on the streets. 

If you would like to learn more about our VMS-A, please contact us via our contact form. Alternatively, you can call us on 01629 580 570 to speak to one of our friendly team, or you can email us via sales@m-vis.co.uk.

Talking about Brew Monday

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Traditionally, the 3rd Monday in January has been referred to as the most ‘difficult day of the year’, as the hype of Christmas and New Year moves further away, the weather begins to bite down even colder and people fall back into their daily routines, with next Christmas the best part of a year down the line.

For these reasons, this rather miserable Monday in the year has been dubbed as ‘Blue Monday’, a day for people to take action on this wide-spread negative association and instead, try to focus on the positive, to take action and to make positive bold life decisions.

For some, it can be highly motivating to talk about their goals with people, to discuss other people’s goals and to get inspiration from those ‘go-getters’ in life. However, for others, this approach can be harder to take if they are struggling with their mental health.

‘Brew Monday’, championed by charity Samaritans, puts an interesting spin on the ‘Blue Monday’ trope, proposing that everyone gets together on the 3rd Monday in January for a drink, be it coffee, green tea or orange juice, “If you’re sharing a cuppa and listening, you’re doing it right.”

This is an opportunity for work colleagues, friends and family to get together and catch-up. This works especially well in offices as it’s possible many colleagues who work in the same building but not directly next to each other haven’t had chance yet to catch up properly after the Christmas break.

For this year’s Brew Monday, the team at MVIS and Bartco UK took a break and got together in the office for a cuppa to all catch up, have a good chat and for the recent new starters to get involved too.

Moments like this for our team are of high importance. They help to bring everyone into conversations that we may be having within departments and also help everyone to get to know each other in a group setting, which can make people feel more comfortable in one to one environments and conversations.

Within the MVIS / Bartco UK group, we place a high emphasis on our culture of inclusivity and communication. No one likes to see anyone left out of the conversation, so gatherings such as these help our team to feel more comfortable both within a group and on an individual level.

Ultimately, Brew Monday is an opportunity to listen. It helps to break down the physical and work related barriers that working in different departments or offices can bring about, and in doing so, it widens our friendship circle in a way that gives us all more people to rely on to watch out for our mental health.

As mental health awareness grows, we all have our bit to do to keep an eye out on those close to us, identifying signs of struggle and then to act appropriately in line with ALGEE mental first aid training if they start to open up to ensure that the right steps are being taken for their best interests.

Everyone at MVIS and Bartco UK takes this responsibility very seriously, so much that we are all ALGEE trained, so our team know what to do in the event that they find themselves in a position needing to use it.

Not only this, but we also have 2 qualified mental health first aiders on site in Rebecca Saint and Anne Ashman, as well as offering staff access to Peninsula’s EAP support if they require it.

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director and mental health first aider comments, “Participation in ‘Brew Monday’ is a small but potentially impactful way that employers can make it known that they are supporting their team’s mental health and inclusive culture. It also helps to emphasise our commitment to our team in general as it gives everyone a chance to chat and catch up, which is important to encourage as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking part in ‘Brew Monday’ is something I would encourage all employers to do.”

For more information about Brew Monday, please visit the Samarians website. 

Useful Links and Support:
– Youngminds – Parents Helpline – 0808 802 5544
– Samaritans – Support Helpline – 116 123
– CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) – 0800 58 58 58
– NHS Mental Health Support – Advice on access to mental health services

Solar IP: The Solar Powered Industrial Portable Power Bank

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The Solar Intelligent Platform (IP) is one of MVIS and Bartco UK’s flagship products and the reason for this is clear.

The Solar IP is a highly versatile and functional unit that offers users the ability to mount and power their technology, bringing portability to technology that is usually fixed due to power constraints.

Solar IP with ANPR

The Solar IP represents a revolution in the industry, allowing business and government bodies to make use of the technology they already have. For example, where previous investment has been made in technology that is now redundant or not fit for a new purpose, the Solar IP allows the potential to re-utilise the units in a portable application.

Horizon Parking, for example use our Solar IPs to grant portability to their ANPR units. Whilst Horizon would ordinarily utilise fixed ANPR units, there are some car parks and locations that can’t facilitate fixed power solutions. Horizon’s Solar IPs allow them to supply such locations with their usual ANPR parking provision without having to invest in new or different ANPR cameras.

In this sense, it also offers increased versatility to other technologies, which may help to make new solutions possible. A great example of this is the innovative Portable Low Light CCTV product development that brought a new level of CCTV quality to portable applications. This product was made possible by the combination of The Invictus HD camera from 360 Vision with Bartco UK’s Solar IP.

The development brings a lot to safety, security and site management applications, allowing for the monitoring of areas even in low light. This is especially important in safety applications such as highways construction, where the low light could be a danger to workers and drivers alike.

The crowing feature of this product however is its solar credentials. A trailer based power bank is an attractive solution on its own, but when considering the environmentally friendly power output, it may even be a preferred solution to fixed power, if the long term environmental impact of the installation is a consideration, for example.

Despite this, the Solar IP is so versatile and highly featured that a customer may only need a few aspects of it to solve their problem. In the case of Amey, they required 10 bespoke units to accommodate their client’s specific needs and own technology.

Having a site that already had power, the client required an adjustable mounting solution and backup power supply for their CCTV. We were able to develop our Solar IP to allow them to source power from the mains and utilise the unit’s 6m mast.

Both MVIS and Bartco UK remain committed to our customer’s requirements and It’s products such as the Solar IP that demonstrates this. The Solar IP isn’t just a solar powered, trailer-based power bank, it stands as an embodiment of our commitments to serving and accommodating our customers. It also stands as an invitation to businesses to consider their own technology’s limitations, and how the Solar IP could expand uses or applications, especially in 2020, where we are relying on new technologies to help battle COVID-19.

For more information about our Solar IP and how it can be adapted to integrate with your technology, please contact us via our contact form.

Alternatively, you can email us via sales@m-vis.co.uk.

Committing to Sustainability as Newest Member of Greener Highways

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MVIS has showcased its commitment to sustainability by becoming a member of Greener Highways, joining the collaborative charge towards net zero.

Greener Highways is a membership organisation set up to unite a sector in the battle against the ongoing climate crisis. It aims to aid with the education and implementation of sustainable initiatives, products, services and operations across the highways sector.

In order to achieve this, Greener Highways will showcase the contributions of its members towards a cleaner, greener future. Greener Highways aims to tackle the climate emergency together by looking at areas such as energy, transport, wildlife and waste, with further aim to build best practice relationships between businesses to encourage faster changes towards long-term sustainability.

As part of a huge highways community, Greener Highways sees the environmental impact of the sectors business activities and realise that companies need to address increasingly serious environmental problems such as climate change, resource depletion, carbon footprints, and pollution.

MVIS

MVIS has opted for Greener Highways membership as it shares the mission and aims of the organisation. The business believes in a cleaner, greener future in an industry that can make a monumental difference with its carbon reduction.

MVIS is a leader in the field of in the delivery of temporary Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) products and integrated solutions for hire across the UK.

Matters that concern the environment have always been important to MVIS. As the company navigates its way through the forever evolving Highways and Traffic Management industries, it has never been more important to be thinking and acting in ways that promote sustainability, carbon footprint management and general care for the environment.

The commitments spelled out in the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy go further than that just what is expected by its ISO in environmental management (14001:2015). MVIS has been on a journey towards being carbon-friendly for 10 years now, starting with its products.

The product range is by its very nature environmentally friendly, being solar powered and offering an alternative to fixed solutions that draw power from the grid straight away helps the environment in this regard, which is an effect that is only increased by time.

Couple this with some applications that MVIS products can be used for. For example, the variable message signs can be used to spread messages that can make an impact on people’s behaviour, such as reminding drivers not to leave their engine running idle, or even to help remind people not to litter.

MVIS also provides a range of data collection solutions that can help Local Authorities, National Highways and site managers determine levels of traffic and their speed, which can then be used to make decisions that can affect the environment, such as issues regarding levels of pollution.

Anne Ashman, UK group Commercial and Operations Director told us:

“We don’t just embody environmental matters in our products, but in our actions too.

“In recent years we have taken a number of steps towards our goal for carbon neutrality and have carried these through every level of our business.

“We undergo continual improvement when it comes to our manufacturing. Over the last 10 years, we have improved our unit’s batteries and solar panels in line with the latest innovations in these technologies.”

To become a member of Greener Highways, please visit www.greenerhighways.co.uk/become-a-member

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MVIS Launch Compact Portable CCTV

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Over the last few years, MVIS have launched a range of new solutions and products that have brought new levels of safety to the market. One of the latest in this line of innovations is the Compact Portable CCTV, which integrates an outdoor IP65 wire-free CCTV camera with our solar powered ‘Compact’ base, making the unit more portable as well as offering a reduced footprint compared to other solutions.

Being solar powered makes the unit even more versatile, preventing the need for an external power source and offering extended run times in recommended conditions. Our compact base offers the camera not only portability, but also a 3M mast, allowing users excellent visibility when used in conjunction with the camera’s pan, tilt and zoom functions.

With hidden cabling, this unit is secured against vandalism or accidental damage and can be easily moved to the client’s requirements.

Due to its size, this unit is ideal for a wide range of applications. Competing solutions often require a much larger footprint or for fixed solutions, they may require a power supply that can restrict where they can be located, limiting the applications they can be used.

This makes the Compact Portable CCTV unit ideal for many different applications and industries and the camera itself is a highly capable solution for security, monitoring work zones and anything else that requires an outdoor HD camera, such as docks, marinas, farms and wider construction applications.   

This unit can even be applied to innovative applications such as queue management, allowing site managers to monitor queues without even being present. This could be especially effective in retail for example, which has seen drastic changes since the COVID pandemic and due to Brexit.

For more information about the Compact Portable CCTV, please contact us via our contact form.

Alternatively, you can email us via sales@m-vis.co.uk.

 

 

MVIS Help Out with Treecycle

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Every year, hundreds of Christmas trees are cast out of homes and taken to the tip or just left in gardens for days or weeks whilst the normal routine of life kicks in.

Ashgate Hospice offer the local community a ‘Treecycle’ service, allowing people to pay £15 to have their trees removed in a hassle-free way that is also good for the environment. Each tree is chipped and recycled, offering a sustainable way to dispose of your Christmas tree as well as raising important funds so that the hospice can continue to provide end of life care throughout 2022.

In order to do this, Ashgate Hospice have a serious job on their hands. Relying on volunteers with the means to do so, Ashgate Hospice plan routes accordingly for people to follow, picking up the trees one by one, then taking them to a local farm to be converted into biomass fuel.

MVIS’s own Anne Ashman, Sean Brown and Ben Ashman were amongst those volunteers during the 2nd weekend in January 2022, collecting 29 trees for Ashgate Hospice in the Chesterfield and Matlock community, helping them to raise the equivalent of £435 in tree collections!

Not only this, but Ashgate also used one of our VMS-A units to help spread awareness about the campaign, located in the car park of a popular local supermarket, offering maximum exposure to the message and helping even further to raise the much needed funds that allow Ashgate to continue offering their compassionate service.

This follows in a long line of fundraising activities that MVIS have conducted for Ashgate Hospice, last year contributing over £11,000 in a combination of financial donations from fundraisers and gifts in kind, in the form of our portable variable message signs to help with raising awareness.

The conversion of the trees into biomass fuel is a known way of making them productive even after they have served their intended purpose. The trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, using photosynthesis to essentially help them grow. When a tree in the wild dies, it rots and a lot of the carbon is released back into the air as carbon dioxide, as well as potentially producing methane too, which is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. By using biomass as a source of energy, we are using that energy in a productive way rather than it being lost to nature.

Compare this to burning fossil fuels, which releases carbon into the atmosphere, often from ancient geological reservoirs. Burning biomass fuels is intercepting a cycle that is already taking place rather than disrupting carbon reserves that would have stayed inside the Earth untouched for a very long time to come. What’s more is that modern biomass systems are highly efficient. Considering the most popular alternative fuels for heating are fossil fuels and these energy costs are significantly increasing at the moment, recycling Christmas trees into biomass offers a fantastic way to solve more than one problem.

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director commented, “It’s great to be working with Ashgate Hospice on a scheme that not only helps them, but also helps the community and the environment. It’s rare you come across an opportunity to do all 3 in one initiative and helping these trees to be recycled gives us piece of mind that they are being useful even after they are no longer wanted by those who purchased them.”

Anne continues, “Taking part in the Treecycle this year was hard work but very rewarding and a lot of fun. As we continue into 2022, we are all excited to see what other fundraising ideas we can give the MVIS touch.”

New Starters Welcomed by MVIS

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As we all get settled back into the routine of daily life, we are pleased to welcome 2 new starters to MVIS at the beginning of 2022. Alex Handley and Mia Maycock started on our first day back to work after the Festive season and the pair have been welcomed into the company hitting the ground running, with training commencing immediately on our range of portable solar powered ITS solutions, on health and safety, and of course on their specific roles.

Alex, our new Marketing Assistant brings with him a Master’s degree in Digital Media Management, a qualification that equips him with solid skills and experience to help our Marketing Manager, Sean Brown, further grow and develop our marketing infrastructure and presence. As a very hands-on role, Alex will be working on our social media, helping with design and undergoing training from Sean in the background on areas such as SEO and email marketing to help develop his skills further.

Working alongside Office Manager Sean Gardner in Customer Relations, Mia will be helping to keep our customer service and delivery teams to the highest standard that we have come to expect. Being on the front line with customers, Mia’s friendly and professional demeanour as well as her quick thinking and problem-solving skills play large parts in her capability for the role. With direction and further training from Sean, Mia will certainly embody what it means to be a member of the team here at MVIS.

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director comments, “Having new team members is always an exciting time for us. Not only does it bring in new skills and perspectives, but it also brings in new personalities to the group, giving us the opportunity to get to exchange experiences and learn from each other.”

Anne continues, “We are all looking forward to seeing what Alex and Mia can bring to the teams they have joined and the wider group team too. We have fantastic opportunities for all members of staff to grow with us, so we are eager for both Alex and Mia to make the most out of these.”

2021 Annual Round Up

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It’s been another unusual year for everyone as the ever-evolving situation with COVID has been more up and down than even the year before. As we began 2021 entering into England’s 3rd national lockdown, months later restrictions were eased off as the nation focused on vaccinations, allowing society and business to emerge from the imposed isolation of 2020 and begin to get back to something that resembles normality.

Despite this, things for most people will never be the same again. The same can be said for many businesses, who have had to continue to adapt to COVID-safe working environments, economic changes and of course changes to the way that all businesses operate. As a group, MVIS and Bartco UK underwent significant changes in 2021, but these changes have been ones that have allowed us to not only continue to deliver the excellent service that our customers expect, but to actually exceed the standards that we have set for ourselves.

We started 2021 as we were throughout 2020, still on the front line of COVID messaging, with public information delivery being an important part of keeping people safe. The nationwide deployment our units in town and city centres followed the same crowd control model more regularly seen by us when providing portable VMS for events. The adaptable nature of our service and our products provided a smooth transition into this realm of public notice, wayfinding and assistance for local authorities.

Ensuring that all our team were COVID Health and Safety qualified with CITB, we were taking no chances when it came to the safety and mental well-being of our employees, allowing us to continue to deliver our safety solutions for the safety and benefit of the general public.

When the restrictions were lifted, we did not just sit back. We maintained our strong focus on training and development. We have always been dedicated to the principles of safety, quality and best practice – accreditations help to underscore this focus. Our team are consistently training and looking for ways to improve on areas of skill levels and qualifications.

In the face of the global pandemic, we have been working hard in the background to ensure that we have the right accreditations to guide this dedication and focus, helping us to maintain our industry leading reputation during a time of uncertainty and instability. In this sense, not only did we put our focus on training, but also in maintaining the standards of a trusted and stable supplier of solar powered intelligent transport systems.

To enforce our ISO accreditations in the standards of quality (9001:2015), environmental management (14001:2015) and health & safety (45001:2018), we have earned other accreditations, memberships and recertifications this year that help to further our dedication and focus to these aspects.

Constructionline Gold, Gold status with the Supply Chain Sustainability School, recertification with Achilles Building Confidence, Cyber Essentials membership and the work we are doing through our membership of Forest Carbon’s Carbon Club are just some of the achievements we have worked on this year that allows us to continuously develop our commitment to safety, quality and the environment.

But our service is more than just these aspects. Indeed, focus on our products remains stronger than ever. 2021 brought a number of exciting product developments that we have already launched or will be launching soon. The ITS Environmental Sensor, for example offers clients a low-cost air quality monitoring solution that can be integrated with any of our ITS products. We have also made some significant upgrades to our Works Egress Safety Solution, making it simpler and more effective for site safety egress applications.

As 2022 comes around, we will be launching other new products that have been in development throughout 2021 that will bring new levels of safety and security to our customers.

Later in the year in 2021, we made a substantial change to the way we inform customers about our products and solutions at trade shows. At Highways UK, we launched a new method of sharing our product spec and info sheets with customers and visitors to our stands. In keeping with our commitment to the environment, we made the switch to using QR code triggered emails instead of handing sheets of literature out.

Not only has this helped the environment by reducing the paper, ink and the potential waste involved in the production and distribution of our literature, but it even reduced the fuel needed to transport the weight of our packs, which have now been swapped for a cutting-edge digital system that is both easy and convenient to use.

As our commitments extend further than the environment and safety, we also have commitments to improving our local community, especially in these times of difficulty. We have expanded our charity and sponsorship activities this year to be even more focused on our local community, including new sponsorship of the Derby Mountain Rescue Team, a voluntary emergency service who attend callouts in response to requests from Derbyshire Police, East Midlands Ambulance Service, and West Midlands Ambulance Service.

We have also remained committed to local charities. Throughout the year, we have been raising money for Ashgate Hospicecare, a local charity who provide palliative and end-of-life care free of charge, caring for people living with a life-limiting illness, including cancer, neurological diseases, and end-stage heart, kidney and lung diseases. We have taken part in a number of our own fundraising activities in 2021 for Ashgate, as well as supporting them with signs for their own fundraising events such as the Sparkle Walk, the value of which being over £8,000 during the course of the year, taking the total amount raised for Ashgate this year to over £11,000.

For Christmas 2021, as well as continuing to support Ashgate with their Light up a Life Ceremony and Treecycle fundraisers, we also donated 2 signs to Blythe House Hospicecare’s Jingle Bell Jog too to help with wayfinding and promotion. The team at MVIS have also offered very generous donations to Clay Cross Foodbank to help local families who are in need of support have a nice Christmas.

It’s been a busy year at MVIS and Bartco UK whilst we continue to navigate our way through a world blighted by COVID. As commerce and industry wake up to the stark concerns over the environment, we have been joined by businesses all over the world this year as we also continue along our 10-year journey towards being carbon friendly, which started right back to basics with our solar powered ITS solutions.

Whilst we said good-bye to some team members last year, we welcomed several new ones too. New team members help to bring new perspectives, new ideas and new qualifications to the group, allowing everyone to benefit and grow as the company does.

We are all looking forward to the developments that 2022 will bring for us, as we launch new products as well as continue to develop our never-ending focus on safety, quality and customer service.

Mobile Visual Information Systems

01629 580 570

MVIS, Units 6-8, Brookfield Way, Brookfield Industrial Estate, Tansley, Matlock, Derbyshire. DE4 5ND

© 2022. Company registered in England No. 8130402 - Registered Office: Units 6-8, Brookfield Way, Brookfield Industrial Estate, Tansley, Matlock, Derbyshire. DE4 5ND