MVIS Helps Belper Pride Run Smoothly

On Saturday 6th August, we supported and supplied several units free of charge for this year’s Belper Pride. As well as receiving some fantastic feedback from The Pride in Belper Team, they have also written us a blog post about how our signs helped with managing the event. 


Pride in Belper returned to the town this summer, for the first time since its inaugural event in 2019. Although activities still took place online in 2020 and 2021, it wasn’t the same as everyone coming together in person to celebrate the town’s diversity and inclusivity with a parade around the town centre.

Three years ago, it was felt the parade (or ‘Strutt’ as we call it in Belper – after the local millowners) wasn’t long enough, so this time we wanted it to take to the main roads. Once, in the days of Belper’s carnival parades, road closures, long processions and a town centre grinding to a halt for an hour or so was an annual event – expected, accepted and, by many, embraced.

But the carnivals disappeared in the 1990s, so it’s been a long time since road closures, on the scale we had planned, have been seen in the town. Unless we could reach out and warn the multitude of motorists before the day, it could become a fractious and difficult day – not the inclusive celebration it needed to be.

The offer of three portable Variable Message Signs (VMS) from MVIS Ltd not only resolved those worries, but in being the first tangible signs of what was coming to the town the following weekend, they also brought a real sense of anticipation and an acceptance from the public. Acceptance that this would be a professional event – something that could be embraced and would work smoothly despite taking out some of the main streets of a busy town on a Saturday lunchtime.

The portable VMS signs weren’t huge but positioned strategically across the town, they were well-noticed, eye-catching and the perfect way of telling people not only about the expected traffic disruption but also why it was happening – a chance for people to avoid the area by car but instead come to the town centre and join in.

How fantastic that we were able to have rolling information – and that we had colours too, perfect for a Pride-themed rainbow illustration to accompany that information. They were much remarked on in the days leading up to the event, and well recognised as useful, professional tools for ensuring that Pride in Belper ran so smoothly.

Without a doubt, the VMS ensured that the all-important Strutt around the town was an absolute highlight for the town this year. It was a joyful event with very little drama on the roads because people knew what was happening and engaged with the signage before the day.

So, thank you, MVIS Ltd, for sponsoring us in this way, and helping to ensure that Pride in Belper was such an important, emotional and successful day for 11,000 people. You made such a difference, and we love you for it.

The Pride in Belper Team


No Hidden Fees When You Hire With MVIS

The MVIS approach is to consistently offer our clients the best service possible. This has allowed us to build up a reputation in the industry for providing excellent service to all customers on all projects, no matter the size or customer. 

That’s why we’re proud to boast that when you hire with MVIS, there are no hidden nasty fees. In fact, deployment, advice, consultation and all the other added value that we offer as part of our platinum level service are included in the cost. 

But what added value do we offer exactly? 

One of the ways we look to offer added value for our customers is by taking the time and effort to learn about the different industries we work with in order to gain a greater understanding of their needs. This then helps us to continue our mission in looking for more ways to add value. Unlike some of our competitors, our expertise is specialised in our core solutions rather than diluted across many different types of products. 

We are always consistently developing our units to make sure that customers are getting much more for their money than just a standard VMS. We do this by integrating other technologies with our signs in order to enhance what they are capable of. An example of this would be the integrated data collection radar, which comes as standard with all our VMS and offers a low-cost alternative to many data collection solutions on the market. 

When it comes to innovation, we don’t just work with our customers to develop new products and solutions. Over the years, we have brought numerous innovations to the industry like the Solar IP, which offers a trailer-based solar powered platform designed for integration with other technology. We have also worked with a range of specialists in their respective fields to bring portable, solar powered innovations to the market such as ANPR and CCTV.

Although we specialise in portable solar powered ITS solutions, we never lose sight of the fact that we are a service-based company. Each member of our staff is committed to providing outstanding customer service and support with zero exceptions. We’re so confident about the service we provide that we are proud to offer customers our ‘Platinum Service Promise’. This outlines our commitment to delivering a ‘Platinum’ level service for a ‘Bronze’ level price. 

Our Quality & Service Promise serves to outline what we consider to be ‘Platinum Level Service’ and also highlights all the additional aspects of our service that sets us apart from other VMS and ITS suppliers. 

We also have a wealth of tools in place that helps us monitor different aspects of our units out in the field, all from our head office in Matlock. Thanks to our national coverage, we can quickly dispatch a team from the nearest of our strategically placed depots to investigate a problem. We even include battery changes, repairs and replacements if needed into the service promise that we offer our clients.

Going above and beyond what is expected from us is what we do here at MVIS. So, get in contact with our friendly Sales team at sales@m-vis.co.uk or on 01629 580570 to make sure that your ITS technology will be taken care of by the experts.


Proud to be Supporting Pride & Inclusivity

Promoting an open, inclusive and fair company culture is extremely important to us here at MVIS. That’s why we’re proud to have supported and supplied several units free of charge for this year’s Belper Pride, which took place on Saturday 6th August. Supplying and deploying our VMS helped provide messaging of road closures and other important information to enable the event to run safely and smoothly. 

Around 11,000 people are said to have attended Belper Pride, a number which has doubled in size in the past two years. The first Belper Pride was only in 2019, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the following two years sadly had to be held online. 

We also had a member of the MVIS team, Clair Tranter who works in Customer Relations, volunteer for this year’s Belper Pride to help with the running of it and make it a great event after a 3 year wait. Several of our other staff have also volunteered for other causes in the past, such as local charities that we support like Ashgate Hospice. As part of our Corporate Social Responsibility, we take pride in our community outreach efforts, which have regularly seen us offer our products, time and financial support to a range of community causes that are close to our hearts. 

Clair is proudly part of the LGBTQ+ community and is our FIR Ambassador here at MVIS. FIR Ambassadors aim to promote a culture of Fairness, Inclusion and Respect within the organisation where they work in. They are expected to embody the principles of FIR: work collaboratively, whilst stepping in to take action, challenge behaviours and positively impact workplace culture. Having an FIR Ambassador as part of our team further shows our commitment to an open and inclusive workplace. 

That same weekend, we also supplied and installed a number of our VMS-As and VMS-Cs for Brighton Pride. Firmly established as the UK’s most popular international Pride Festival, Brighton Pride attracts a diverse audience of around 1,000,000 people from across the globe. Due to the size of the event and the fact it’s spread out over a city, the MVIS team had to work around the clock in order for all the units to be set up on time. 

Brighton Pride’s ethos is to promote tolerance, diversity and inclusion which perfectly aligns with our morals as a company. We’re extremely proud to have worked with them for this year’s Pride celebrations in order to progress towards the goal of eliminating all forms of discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities. 


Meet our FIR Ambassador

The Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) programme is an industry-wide initiative that aims to make the workplace better for everyone. 

FIR Ambassadors promote a culture of Fairness, Inclusion and Respect within the organisation where they work in. They are expected to embody the principles of FIR: work collaboratively, whilst stepping in to take action, challenge behaviours and positively impact workplace culture.

We are delighted to announce that Clair Tranter, who works in Customer Relations, has become our FIR Ambassador for Construction. Clair is proudly part of the LGBTQ+ community and will help to drive the FIR message throughout the MVIS and Bartco UK team. With Pride Month just ending and many more Pride events to come this summer, there’s no better time to celebrate fairness, inclusion and respect in the workplace. 

As part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), promoting an open, inclusive and friendly company culture is extremely important to us and having an FIR Ambassador on board further shows our commitment to this. We take pride in the training, treatment and support of our staff and see this as a step further to supporting them even more. 

Clair Tranter comments, “I am extremely proud to become an FIR Ambassador for MVIS Ltd. I am part of the LGBTQ+ community but I feel there are always new things to learn. I only recently learnt about all the different types of flags you would see at a Pride event. I look forward to working with the rest of the team to make sure that everyone is continued to be treated fairly and with respect.” 

Anne Ashman comments, “It’s great to have an FIR Ambassador as part of our team. I want everyone to feel safe and supported in order for them to reach their maximum potential.”


Turning to Mental Health

MVIS and Bartco UK have always taken mental health very seriously. Poor mental health is one of the biggest causes of death in the construction and highways industries and in 2020, the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) published a report that showed 26% of respondents had considered taking their own lives in the previous year. The report also showed that high percentages of respondents suffered with issues such as depression, stress, anxiety and fatigue.

National statistics shed more light on the issue. From around the 5000 suicides in the UK every year related to mental health issues, males account for three-quarters of the total figure, making this the biggest killer of men up to the age of 49 in the UK.

But this is not a new problem for the industry or indeed for wider society.

For many years now, MVIS and Bartco UK have placed mental health as a major priority, working on developing our team to ensure that everyone is ALGEE trained, that everyone has access to a mental health first aider and one of our more recent developments is providing our team with access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), an anonymous advice and support service offered by Peninsula.

Amongst our mental health first aiders has traditionally been Bartco UK’s Purchasing & Stock Control Supervisor, Rebecca Prince and the UK Group Commercial and Operations Director for both MVIS and Bartco UK, Anne Ashman.

However, we are now proud to announce that Jon Larkins, North Delivery Supervisor has been qualified as the group’s first male mental health first aider. Jon is an ideal member of the team to take on this responsibility, working for MVIS and closely with the Bartco UK team, he will be able to offer his support to everyone who works for the group in addition to the comfort he can bring to male team members who may feel more comfortable discussing mental health issues with another male. 

Jon comments, “It’s great to be able to lend a helping hand with my training.  Mental health awareness has never been so widespread but there’s still a lot of work to be done both within business and as a society. It’s so vital that we all take mental health seriously.”

Anne adds, “Jon is a great addition to the mental health first aider team. He is well liked within the group and is naturally a very good listener. His training in mental first aid will only channel this and put his compassionate nature to fantastic use.”


Focus on Efficiency Helps to Reduce Energy and Fuel Dependency

With the soaring energy and fuel prices making the headlines only set to get worse, there are not only environmental incentives for everyone to look at ways of increasing their efficiency, reducing overall dependency on these commodities.

Environmental concerns have always been important to us, underscored by our ISO in environmental management (14001:2015), which inspires us to go further than many organisations may consider. As a result, we have already been working on ways we can reduce our carbon footprint through a wide range of energy and fuel efficiency initiatives before the wider global crisis even began.

In fact, we have been doing this for the past 10 years.


Fuel Efficiency

To help cut down on the fuel used in the deliveries of our products, we have developed a custom-built beavertail vehicle to allow us to deploy 3 x VMS-A units, 2 x VMS-C units, or 2 x Solar IP units in one delivery. Our national coverage also means that we can pick the closest depot to deliver a unit from, saving staff who are further away the journey.

For especially large projects that involve the delivery of even more units than this, we can also call on the use of a local commercial vehicle delivery service, meaning the job can be done in one delivery instead of several trips in the beavertail vehicle.

This approach to our delivery model means that we only ever use the method required, not wasting the use of a commercial vehicle delivery service when it’s not required, whilst maximising the capabilities of our beavertail vehicle for smaller deployments.

In a different fashion, other environmental changes we have made have indirectly resulted in a net decrease in our use of fuel in recent times.

In preparation for Highways UK 2021, we developed a new way to inform our customers about our products and solutions that breaks away from the conventional presentation folder and spec sheets, which cumulatively will have a marked impact on the environment.

Using QR codes, visitors to our stand at any trade show are able to easily request an email to be sent to them automatically after scanning the code and visiting our website. A popup box appears requesting an email address, which, when filled in, triggers the email to be sent to the customer within minutes with the required spec sheets attached.

The paper, ink and the potential waste that is involved in the production and distribution of our information packs, has, over the years, undeniably left its mark on the environment.

However, as with many things, technology has assisted us in helping to address this issue. As a result, even the fuel needed to transport the weight of our packs won’t be used, instead being swapped for a cutting-edge digital system that is both easy and convenient to use.

In order to offer our customers solutions that operate at the height of efficiency, 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.

Better charging systems, as well as tilting and more efficient solar panels has resulted in improved run times and fewer battery changes, which means fewer journeys need to be made.

This has a huge impact across our entire fleet.

Where possible, we also prefer to use local suppliers in the servicing of our works vehicles. In sourcing local services, we help to massively cut down on our fuel consumption whilst bringing business to our local area. The cumulative saving of these reoccurring needs being seen to in the area will have saved a huge number of travel miles compared to alternative services that may have been offering better rates in different areas of the country.


Energy Efficiency

One of the biggest aspects involved with a business’s energy usage is the office in which they operate. Questions of heat insulation and efficient lighting are what usually come to mind when considering this.

However, MVIS go one step further.

Over the years, we have seen significant upgrades to our Matlock HQ. Technological solutions such as movement sensors and timers in our lights and hand dryers, as well as eco-friendly heating solutions have been installed, allowing us to see energy savings that don’t compromise on our employee’s comfort.

Timers in the lights and hand dryers ensure that these things are not on for longer than they need to be, such as if they were left on by accident overnight.

Our eco-friendly heating solutions are particularly innovative, however, employing smart heating technology using sensors and oil. Oil filled space heaters are known to be more efficient than water, gas or infrared heaters due to oil’s unique thermal properties. The use of sensors in the heaters ensure accurate heat regulation in the room, so that they stop heating when the room is at the designated temperature, preventing the space getting too hot or too cold. They also come integrated with programmable time schedules too, meaning they can be set to automatically turn on and off when required.

The efficiency improvements we have made to our products don’t just help with fuel reduction. Improvements in our charging systems, batteries and solar panels mean that we are using less energy to replenish drained batteries ready to go back into one of our units. Again, over the number of batteries we are required to service for our fleet, these efficiency improvements make a huge difference to our levels of energy consumption.

We have also taken steps to make small changes that over time will make a big difference. For example, where possible, we always encourage the use of natural light over artificial. It is well known that natural light positively impacts a wide number of health aspects such as mood, vitamin-D levels and eye health, as well as bringing heightened levels of productivity too.

Another example is our approach to printing. In the digital age, we have seen a reduced need for printing documents anyway, but as company policy, we only encourage the use of our printer and photocopying unit when absolutely necessary, instead sharing documents digitally via email or Microsoft Teams. Not only does this help to reduce energy requirements, but it also helps to cut down on paper waste and ink too.

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director comments, “We have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to efficiency, so it’s reassuring that when a global energy and fuel crisis hits, we are already doing everything that we can to minimise our dependency on them. However, like most of us, reducing this dependency to zero is virtually impossible in today’s economy. Whilst it may take some time for society to catch up, it’s efficiency changes such as the ones we have been making for the past decade that moves everyone closer to the goal of sustainability.”

 


Upskilling to Maintain Focus on Diversity

With all the aspects that encompass Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in 2022, it has never been more important as a business to engage with the world in a positive way.

In recent years, issues concerning the environment, mental health and wellbeing have dominated discussions about CSR, likewise, so have issues concerning diversity and equality.

Diversity and equality have been in the collective conscience for a long time. Throughout this ‘journey to equality ‘, we have seen some tremendous changes to legislative attitudes, especially over the last 70 years.

But there is still a long way to go in changing civil attitudes.

Aside from the moral duties that we owe to each other, it is well known that a diversity and equality programme offers organisations a range of benefits such as increased productivity, creativity and staff retention, as well as the business growth that comes with these things.

It is incumbent upon all of us, not just as staff working for a company, but as active members of society to always do our best to work towards a better world. But as an employer, we are bound by our CSR Policy to ensure that our team members have a safe and fair working environment – and we do not take this responsibility lightly.

Professional development is a job that is never finished, meaning that there is always room to improve when it comes to such matters. Hot on the heels of Race Equality Week 2022, we are proud to announce, our Marketing Manager, Sean Brown, as our new Diversity Officer, having recently earned his ‘Diversity and Equality in Workplace Diploma Level 3’, building on top of his previously earned degree in Politics and qualifications in Sociology.

As Diversity Officer, Sean is charged with ensuring that our approach to diversity and equality carries on improving, that the job is indeed ‘never finished’. Sean now also stands as a point of contact for members of the team who wish to confidentially discuss matters of diversity and equality, be that an idea on how we can improve or to report an incident of discrimination that has taken place.

Part of the Diversity Officer’s responsibility is developing a Diversity and Equality programme that not only audits our organisation on where we stand with regards to diversity and equality, but also proactively seeks to develop every team member’s understanding of the topics through diversity awareness training.

A good Diveristy and Equality programme also addresses the marketing and promotion of steps a company is taking in order to help set a good example for others, using internal and external channels of communication to celebrate the programme, such as the website or via email. 

Sean commented, “Increased diversity and equality can offer a workplace so much, from new ideas and perspectives to an improved overall morale. This course gave me the opportunity to build on the understanding I already had on these topics and really helped me to understand the things that can go wrong if we are all not working towards the ideals of equality.”

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director added, “Having a Diversity Officer on-site will be a great opportunity for us to assess our working environment, making sure that it promotes safety and prohibits discrimination of all kinds. Matters of equality and diversity have always been important to Sean and with the qualifications he already held, he was a willing and logical choice for the post. As we have taken on record numbers of new team members in recent months, now seemed like an ideal time to be proactive and appoint a Diversity Officer.”


Working with Suppliers on Our Collective Responsibility to the Environment

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.


Talking about Brew Monday

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


Committing to Sustainability as Newest Member of Greener Highways

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


MVIS and Customers Help to Reduce Carbon

Back in May, we celebrated our membership of the Carbon Club, an initiative established by Forest Carbon that allows organisations and businesses an opportunity to address their carbon footprint in a long lasting and effective way.

Purchasing ‘carbon credits’ allows Forest Carbon to plant trees and create new woodlands in the UK on our behalf, which will sequester greenhouse gases from the atmosphere in the years to come.

We are also committing to the initiative fully by buying extra credits and planting more trees for any long term contracts our customers place with us. This has a very powerful effect as time goes on, allowing both MVIS and our customers to help the environment for many years, as well as helping to restore habitats for wildlife that is local to the plant sites, increasing biodiversity, protecting against floods and improving river ecosystems.

Forest Carbon have planted over 10 million new trees in 200+ new woodlands since 2006 with their partners, removing over 2 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere. Their woodland schemes can be found all over the UK, bringing these benefits to everyone who lives here not just now, but also in future as the cumulative impact from the trees compound each year.

Being part of such a forward-thinking scheme allows our customers to benefit from supporting an environmentally focused supplier who engages with their responsibilities, which for many of our customers is a very important aspect for their environmental commitments too. Understanding that their supply chain is committed to the environment to such an extent allows them to be safe in the knowledge that working with us is helping to reduce their carbon footprint.

Since May 2021, the trees that the Carbon Club have planted on our behalf has helped to capture a total of 13.6 tonnes of CO2, helping to plant approximately 54 trees, covering 0.1 hectares of land in the UK.

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director commented, “It’s fantastic to be able to offer our customers an opportunity to give back to the environment as they hire our solutions. Such a policy not only helps the environment but it’s also excellent customer service, as it’s helping to give our customers something very important that isn’t directly related to our services.”

Anne adds, “We can only hope that more businesses going forward take this approach as these issues become increasingly important for the long term sustainability of the economy and more importantly, the future of the planet.”

To help enforce the commitments spelled out in our Corporate Social Responsibility policy, we go further than that just what is expected from us by our ISO in environmental management (14001:2015).

We have recently reviewed our environmentally friendly policies in light of COP26 and our involvement with the Balfour Beatty Sustainable Evolution Showcase, detailing many of the environmental practices we currently undertake and their impact.


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


Carbon Friendly for 10 years – from QR codes to COP26

Matters that concern the environment have always been important to us. As we navigate our 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 our Corporate Social Responsibility policy go further than that just what is expected from us by our ISO in environmental management (14001:2015). We have been on a journey towards being carbon-friendly for 10 years now, starting right back to basics with our products.

Our products are by their 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 our products can be used for. For example, our variable message signs can be used to help spread messaging 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.

We also offer 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.

However, a recent product innovation offers a more targeted approach for pollution – the ITS Integrated Environmental Sensor, which can be integrated with any of our products as an additional feature which offers clients the ability to monitor the external environment, producing a wide range of air pollution data that can be used to inform and direct on issues of air pollution safety.

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.

Better charging systems, as well as tilting and more efficient solar panels has resulted in improved run times and fewer battery changes, which means fewer journeys need to be made.

This has a huge impact across our entire fleet.

Some units in the fleet itself can be traced back over a decade now – with continual refurbishments and upgrades, we never dispose of a unit unless it is beyond repair, and even if we do, we salvage what we can and what is safe to, to minimise our waste.

To help cut down on carbon emissions from the deliveries of our products, we have developed a custom built beavertail vehicle to allow us to deploy 3 x VMS-A units, 2 x VMS-C units, or 2 x Solar IP units in one delivery. Our national coverage also means that we can pick the closest depot to deliver a unit from, saving staff who are further away the journey.

Perhaps one of our more wider reaching recent environmentally friendly policies has been our adoption of the ‘Carbon Club’ initiative, which was set up by Forest Carbon to allow smaller organisations and businesses to address their climate impact by planting trees and create new woodlands in the UK on our behalf. This will sequester greenhouse gases from the atmosphere for years to come.

We are committing to the initiative fully by paying for more trees to be planted for each contract our customers place with us.

Over the years, we have also seen significant upgrades to our Matlock HQ also. Technological solutions such as movement sensors and timers in our lights and hand dryers, as well as eco-friendly heating solutions have been installed, along with the introduction of a bee hotel and a hedgehog home that are fully maintained by our team.

Above the flower bed the bee house proudly sits

The importance of bees to the environment and global ecosystems are well documented, and the decision for hedgehog refuge is aligned with one of the downsides to the highways industry, with an estimated 25% of the population of hedgehogs being killed on UK roads each year.

To add to the effort to give back to the local environment, we also maintain an on-site flower bed with plants monitored by our team which offers the added benefit of bringing some natural beauty to our local area and nicely compliments the nearby bee hotel.

Where possible, we prefer to use local suppliers. In sourcing local services and products, we help to massively cut down on our carbon footprint whilst bringing business to our local area.

Major components of our products such as our trailers are sourced from a local business, and wider servicing of work vehicles is also conducted locally. The cumulative saving of these reoccurring needs being seen to in the area will have saved a huge number of travel miles compared to alternative services that may have been offering better rates in different areas of the country or even the world.

Even our waste management systems are carefully considered with regards to the environment. We utilise a specialist waste management company to sort and dispose of waste accordingly, ensuring that what can be recycled is disposed of in the correct way. 

To help keep the local environment friendly for wildlife, the MVIS team have even been on local litter picks this year! 

More recently, we have taken the next steps in our environmentally friendly journey. In preparation for Highways UK 2021, we have developed a new way to inform our customers about our products and solutions that breaks away from the conventional presentation folder and spec sheets, which cumulatively will have a marked impact on the environment.

Using QR codes, visitors to our stand were able to easily request an email to be sent to them automatically after scanning the code and visiting our website. A popup box appears requesting an email address, which, when filled in, triggers the email to be sent to the customer within minutes with the required spec sheets attached.

The paper, ink and the potential waste that is involved in the production and distribution of our information packs, has, over the years, undeniably left its mark on the environment.

However, as with many things, technology has assisted us in helping to address this issue. As a result, even the fuel needed to transport the weight of our packs won’t be used, instead being swapped for a cutting-edge digital system that is both easy and convenient to use.

What’s more is that at events, we have always given away reusable or environmentally friendly merchandise and we absolutely stay away from single use plastics. Goodies such as reusable bamboo coffee cups, trolley tokens and reusable face masks are given out to our customers in a reusable canvas tote bag.

To bring our journey even more up to date, very recently we were invited to the Balfour Beatty Sustainable Evolution Showcase, which is running alongside COP26 in Glasgow.

Based at Balfour Beatty’s Digital Innovation Hub, this event gave us the opportunity to support Balfour Beatty in a celebration of sustainability in the industry, demonstrating our solar powered products to visitors, school children, important delegates at the COP26 event and anyone else in the industry who are interested in sustainability in the industry.

Being present at a show like this gives us the opportunity to help education people on solar powered solutions that can benefit the environment, such as our ITS Environmental Sensor. In doing this, we are not only helping to spread the word, but also serving as an example for other companies who may be interested in embarking on a similar journey.

Graeme Lee, Sales Director at MVIS comments, “Being at the Sustainable Evolution Showcase is an important step for us. Being able to represent MVIS and support Balfour Beatty at a show of this magnitude is a clear example of where a focus on sustainability can lead.”

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director added, “There is always room for improvement when it comes to our carbon footprint and it starts with the small things. MVIS have remained committed to giving back to the environment for 10 years now and our commitment is only growing strong as we as a company grow. We are all looking forward to seeing a world where everyone takes environmentally friendly matters this seriously –  and if COP26 is anything to go by, we don’t think this is too far behind.”