MVIS hits the Bullseye

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Just before Easter Sunday the team at MVIS competed in a Darts Tournament as apart of the ‘Journey to Wellbeing’ initiative from National Highways.

MVIS has been taking part in the initiative over the past months with our Desert Island Discs and the Time to Talk Day. Aiming to improve staff moral and improve mental health in our sector.

April’s theme was stress awareness month, we wanted the team to blow some steam off over an afternoon by playing darts and chatting with other members of the team.

Journey to Wellbeing, the MVIS Staff take part in a Darts Tournament.

76% of employees report moderate-to-high or high levels of stress, small opportunities to reduce stress such as a Darts Tournaments or Desert Island Discs goes a long way in improving the #PlatinumLevelService that we deliver daily.

Our Digital Content Creator, Ben Ashman, said:

“I am really enjoying these events; they bring the team together and ensure that staff moral and mental health is safe and secure.

It is nice to spend time with fellow staff members and have experiences with them”.

 

See the Journey To Wellbeing Calendar below:

DSE in the Workplace.

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The importance of working safely with DSE is imperative to all offices.

Working with display screen equipment rises many health risks, such as damage to eyes and the potential to hurt posture and be the cause of back problems.

Recently at the MVIS main office we have changed the layout of the offices to comply to DSE and keeping the staff at MVIS safe and healthy.

In the office we changed the desks, so they were all at the same height with shelves on the desk to put staff’s laptops at eye level to prevent slumping at desks, preventing potential neck injuries and adhering to the rules of DSE highlighted on their website.

There are many positive applications to changing the office, from having a fresh new feeling in the office that opens the mind to new ideas to improving worker health long-term looking after staffs posture and eyesight.

MVIS’ Desert Island Favourites!

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The ‘Journey to Wellbeing’ is an initiative started by the team at National Highways to initiate conversations between staff and improve the mental health of people in our sector.

Last month the team at MVIS took part in ‘Time to Talk Day’. We gathered in the main office to talk to one another about the impacts of mental health and point our staff in the direction of our 3 mental health first aiders.

Anne Ashman, Jon Larkins, and Rebecca Prince, our in-house team of experts, all agreed that it’s a good idea to partake in these practices so we can all stay alert and aware of who our staff can talk to receive to mental health advice.

This Month the team took part in ‘Desert Island Favourites’, a quiz show dedicated to being true to yourself and being honest about your interests.

Each member of staff told us their favourite film, song and a luxury item they would take to a desert island. We then compiled them into a quiz of which our staff had to guess whose chose what.

This was an excellent attempt to get the staff at MVIS talking to each other, the idea being that if you have a film or song option that another person may share it is suggested a staff member should talk about this and share the experience together.

Taking part in the ‘Journey to Wellbeing’ has been a good investment of MVIS time we have found that it does build morale to change the workflow of a day and keeps staff excited and revitalised.

Juliette Wright, our Customer Relations Officer, said: So many undiscovered minds in one workplace. It appears we know some of the team so well, and others unleased answers we were not expecting!  

Luxury products were my favourite answers, a net filled with footballs! Genius, you can catch fish with the net or use the two as a type of float to get off the island!

9 Years in the Making.

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After joining MVIS & Bartco in January 2014, our Research & Development Manager Tom started 2023 by marking his 9-year Anniversary with us. Tom thrives in his role as he is constantly challenged on a daily basis. Something which he admits is very important to him, and his work. Tom is constantly creating exciting new products and further developing ourc ore products to keep MVIS & Bartco ahead of the game.

From a young age he has enjoyed stripping things apart and then trying to put them back together. From his retro gaming consoles to his dad’s watch! Although Tom does admit that the watch did not go so well! From the age of 6 Tom has played Rugby and found this to be another challenge in which he has always wanted to better himself. Unfortunately, the social side over-took the skill side for a few years but he still managed to play at Midlands one level for a couple of seasons until he finally retired at the age of 31. Alongside playing Rugby, he still liked to fix, build, and take things apart and strongly believes that this has proved a big help in his career. He now creates 3D CAD work and electrical schematics which help our workshop build our own products along with the work instructions that Tom creates for them.

Tom finds a great sense of reward from helping people and will always do what he can to help others whether that be at work or in his personal life – As Tom quotes: Horace Mann said, “Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves.”

Tom began working with us as Technical support back in January 2014, becoming workshop manager in 2016 leading a team of 4 and has more recently worked his way up to Research and Development Manager. Tom said: “After going from Technical support to Research & Development Manager, I would like to think I have grown with the companies, which were in their infancy when I joined and as a person with thanks to the team I work with who have supported me. Hopefully I have supported some of them too”.

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Commercial & Operations director Anne commented “We soon identified that Tom’s skills and his ability  at teaching our apprentices and ensuring the quality of our products was wasted as a technician, Tom was promoted to workshop supervisor within two years of starting.  Since then, he has gone on to become our R&D Manager, no task is too big for Tom and any ideas he or the team have he always delivers, there is nothing he can’t achieve that he is tasked with”.

Congratulations on 9 years of impressive work Tom, and here’s to many more years of building (& fixing) towards the future.

MVIS Staff Spread Festive Cheer at Ashgate Hospice

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Members of our team recently headed over to Ashgate Hospice in Chesterfield to spread some Festive cheer, by serving some of the unsung heroes who give up their time and support to ensure that the hospice is a friendly and welcoming environment all year round.

The hospice is a local charity that provides specialist palliative and end-of-life care to patients with a life-limiting illness and their families across North Derbyshire. Ashgate Hospice is not an NHS hospice and all the care that it provides is free of charge. In order to continue providing care when people need it most, Ashgate relies heavily on fundraising and community support from local businesses like us.

The team were on hand throughout the day to serve hot drinks including festive hot chocolate and non-alcoholic mulled punch along with a selection of Christmassy sweet treats of mince pies and chocolate Yule log. All home-made by the generous staff at our MVIS head office. Guests, patients, staff and volunteers were also able to take time out of their day and enjoy the Christmas classic ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ shown on the big screen as the Day Hospice was transformed in to a cinema room especially for the event. MVIS work throughout the year on various projects, finding new and exciting ways to raise funds for Ashgate Hospice including charity walks and a 10 week long, in-house Bake-Off competition where all bakes are sold with all profits going straight to the charity.

Jon Larkin – MVIS North Delivery Supervisor: “It’s always important to give something back to the local community. Whether that be time or support in other ways. It’s a pleasure to come to the Hospice and see the amazing work that takes place every single day and the wonderful people that make it all possible. The hospice is a vital part of the local community, many of us know people who have benefitted from the incredible work Ashgate do and to support such an amazing cause right on your doorstep gives us all immense pride”.

David Storer- Ashgate Hospice Events Organiser: “A massive thank you to you guys for coming over and providing all that stuff, as well as providing the cinema set up. The hot chocolates went down a storm with staff from across the hospice. Can I also just say thank you from all of us here for everything else you do for us throughout the year. From Bake-Off sales to the VMS you provide for us, it is all very much appreciated and the GIK, money you raise, and sponsorship of next years High Peak Trail, really does make a huge difference”.

To find out more about Ashgate Hospice and how you can make a difference this Christmas, just click the link: shorturl.at/EGSU8

The Great MVIS Bake Off Begins

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This year we’re back with another charity baking competition, The Great MVIS Bake Off. Inspired by the TV show, this year the competition is being stepped up a few gears, with more rounds, more people and a different theme each week. 

Last year’s Bake Off competition went down a treat with the team as it was the first time in a long time that everyone could come together. In the 5 man finale, Pip and Tim narrowly beat out the rest and were crowned winners. Will Tim be looking to win again this year? 

This year’s competition will last for 11 weeks instead of 5, starting today on the 17th of October and finishing with a final on the 21st of December. There are 12 members of the MVIS and Bartco UK team taking part, and they will be split into groups of 3, with 2 people from each group advancing into the next round. The team can buy a slice of their favourite bakes for £1, with all of the money raised going to Ashgate Hospice. 

The schedule is as follows: 

To kick things off in Week 1, Ben, Chris and Juliette each baked and brought in a delicious cake of their choice. In contention was Ben with his Lotus Biscoff cake, Juliette with her chocolate cream cake and Chris with his Halloween-themed chocolate tray cake. 

A slice from each cake was cut up into small pieces and tasted by the entire team, who then had to write down their favourite on a piece of paper to vote.

After carefully counting up the votes, the winners of The Great MVIS Bake Off Week 1 were…Ben with his Lotus Biscoff cake and Juliette with her chocolate cream cake! Ben’s Lotus Biscoff cake went down particularly well with the team, which earned him an incredible 8 votes. 

Stay tuned for Week 2 where Ben K, Alex and Tim will be baking some brilliant biscuits! Ben and Juliette will be advancing into the second round, with Ben baking again in Week 5, Spice Week and Juliette in Week 6, Botanical Week. 

Make sure to follow and keep tabs on our Instagram account so you don’t miss a bake. 

Supporting World Mental Health Day 2022

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Here at MVIS, we take mental health very seriously. As a socially responsible employer, we feel it is important to focus on mental health every day and not just today. Working in an industry that suffers from high suicide rates, it is of vital importance that we stay one step ahead when it comes to mental health.

In the UK, suicide claims an alarming number of lives each year, with many of those in the Highways and Construction industries. As safety is one of the core foundations at MVIS in addition to mental health, there is no denying the obligation we have in raising awareness of this to help make the industry safer for everyone. 

Last year for World Mental Health Day, we supported YoungMinds, the mental health charity for young people and participated in their #HellowYellow campaign by donating money and wearing a hi-vis or yellow clothing. 

In support of World Mental Health Day this year, we got all our staff together for some cake and a chat to help encourage the conversation around mental health. The theme for this year is to make mental health and wellbeing a priority, which is something that we have been working to achieve for many years now. 

Brew Monday for World Mental Health DayBrew Monday for World Mental Health Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the years, we have taken a number of steps to safeguard the wellbeing and mental health of our team. One of the things we’ve done to support our team is giving them access to 3 qualified mental health first aiders, 2 female and 1 male. Our mental health first aiders are Rebecca Prince,  MVIS’ Purchasing & Stock Control Supervisor, Jon Larkins, our North Delivery Supervisor and the UK Group Commercial and Operations Director for both MVIS, Anne Ashman. 

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. If you feel that you may need advice or support on your mental health, some helpful links will be included below. 

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director comments, “The mental health of our team is one of our top priorities and today was a great opportunity for them to have a break and spend some time together. Here at MVIS and Bartco UK, we have been working with our staff for a long time now on ways we can best safeguard their mental health and wellbeing, which has helped us build the support system we have in place today.”

Get help and support: 

Proud to be Supporting Pride & Inclusivity

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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. 

Celebrating 10 Years of Graeme Lee

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This week we’re celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Graeme Lee, our Sales Director. Graeme is now the second member of the MVIS team to reach a 10 year tenure after Anne Ashman celebrated her 10 year anniversary last year. 

Graeme joined MVIS in 2012 having already worked in the highways industry in sales. His existing knowledge and experience quickly saw him forming relationships with clients that have continued to develop over the last 10 years. Graeme’s loyalty and dedication to the company has led him to become our Sales Director, where he oversees the Sales department with Customer Relations Officer, Juliette Wright. 

Highly skilled in sales, networking and maintaining relationships, Graeme is well respected within the industry and is often seen as the face of MVIS to clients and customers. During his time at MVIS, Graeme has amassed a number of career achievements that have formed a crucial part of our success and growth. 

With years of vital experience in producing high-value tender submissions and working with high-profile customers from many different industries, Graeme has become an incredibly valued member of the team and a crucial component of our operations. 

Anne Ashman, UK Group Operations and Commerical Director comments, “We are all very pleased to be celebrating Graeme’s 10 year work anniversary this week. It’s been a pleasure working with Graeme over the last ten years. Graeme’s commitment and loyalty to the company is greatly appreciated and we are extremely lucky to have him as part of our team. Everyone at MVIS and Bartco UK thanks Graeme for his service and we look forward to many more years of him working with us.” 

Graeme Lee comments, “I am very proud to have reached a 10 year milestone here at MVIS. I started working in this industry over 15 years ago when it was the early days for portable VMS in the UK. In the time that I’ve been here, the industry has changed substantially but the “can do” mentality at MVIS has not changed. Every member of staff is crucial, and they are all prepared to go the extra mile.” 

What Does Platinum Level Service Mean to You?

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Over the last 12 years, MVIS has built an outstanding reputation across the highways sector for providing excellent service to its customers on all projects. 

No matter the size or customer, MVIS adopts the ‘no task is too small’ approach on its mission to deliver a level of service it can only define as ‘platinum’.

MVIS has always valued its customers and has built some excellent long-standing relationships on the back of its commitment to service as well as its products. To showcase this commitment, MVIS proudly launched its ‘Platinum Service Promise’ campaign back in  2021. A promise they have kept to this very day. 

The MVIS Platinum service promise delivers:

‘Platinum Level Service for Bronze Level Prices’

The MVIS quality & service document serves to outline what the company considers to be ‘Platinum Level Service’ and also highlights just how special its services are.

 

MVIS has always held fantastic relationships with its clients, and the company regularly receives positive feedback and comments crediting it for one of the aspects listed in the quality & service document.

Each time a customer approaches MVIS with enthusiastic comments about its service, MVIS see this not just as an opportunity to celebrate its collective achievement, but also to reinforce this standard of service within the team. Reinforcing standards in moments of praise makes gives it special emphasis and reinforces a message from a positive position rather than trying to react to a negative one. This aids with staff feeling appreciated, delivers job satisfaction and rewards their hard work.

We spoke to a number of MVIS employees about their view on what platinum service is, and how it fits into their own specific roles.

We asked, “What does Platinum Level Service mean to you?”

 

Anne Ashman – Group Commercial and Operations Director said:

“The Platinum Service Promise is a symbol of our commitment to service and customers. We have thought long and hard about a way we can demonstrate this, culminating in this promise to clients to always give them our very best. We are incredibly proud of our service record and the positive comments we receive from our customers.”

Anne continued: 

“With that said, it’s vital that we never lose sight of the importance of continuous improvement. Our Platinum Service Promise works in conjunction with our customer’s comments and internal audits to keep us on our toes, make us accountable and give us an opportunity to work on areas that may need another look. Having this trusting relationship with our customers allows us to consistently cater to their needs so we don’t miss anything as their needs evolve.”

Jon Larkins, Delivery Supervisor for the North added:

“We know the moment we leave HQ that we are representing MVIS – and therefore carry an expected standard with us. That standard being platinum. Whether it’s the quality of our maintenance work, right through to how we interact with other contractors on site or the passing public – nothing short of outstanding will do.”

With Anne and Jon both well established as part of the MVIS team, serving 10 and 5 years respectively, what’s expected is ingrained in their day-to-day operations.

For a perspective from those not so experienced, a more newcomer perspective is offered by Clair Tranter and Mia Maycock, both in MVIS’ Customer Relations team. Both recent recruits, Clair and Mia explained to us how the bar was set upon joining the company, and what platinum service means to them.

Clair told us:

“I was left in no doubt throughout the recruitment process with MVIS that ‘client centric’ is absolutely the ethos here. Our customers and the service we provide them comes above all. We do what we can, every day to assist their operations and provide something that’s unrivalled when it comes to service.”

April added:

“It was actually one of the main reasons that the role appealed to me. Working in customer relations, there has to be a passion for service, so coming into a company that places customer satisfaction above all was a great fit. It’s very clear to me how MVIS has garnered such a strong reputation when it comes to its levels of service, as everyone in the business knows it’s priority number one. Now I’m looking forward to playing my part in delivering that platinum promise myself.”

New Marketing Manager Welcomed by MVIS

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As a small team, it is always sad when a member of staff departs but with a new employee comes new skills and fresh ideas. Last week, we celebrated our 10th anniversary and also a new face in our in-house Marketing Department.

We’re delighted to announce that Ben Kettell has joined us as our new Marketing Manager. Ben is an experienced marketeer and Marketing Manager in addition to having expert skills in graphic design. He will be working alongside Alex Handley, our Marketing Executive who has recently been promoted from Marketing Assistant and Ben Ashman, our Data Assistant. Together, they will continue to grow and improve our marketing channels. 

Prior to working in the hospitality industry as Marketing Manager for two of Derby’s most established businesses, Ben has worked in marketing for a number of respectable B2B and B2C companies in the travel and retail industry. 

Ben is now in his second week at MVIS and is starting to get to grips with an exciting new industry and our wide range of products and solutions. Outside of work, Ben is a passionate Derby County supporter and regularly attends home and away matches. 

Ben Kettell comments, “I am delighted to join the MVIS team. Their enthusiasm for their work and expertise is unrivalled I can’t wait to get stuck in. I look forward to sharing ideas and working with the entire workforce to grow MVIS in new and exciting sectors along with building on the strong foundations already in place.”  

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director comments, “Ben really impressed us in the interview process and I have no doubt that he will be a great addition to our Marketing Department and the MVIS team. He brings with him a solid set of marketing and creative skills that will help to expand and improve our current marketing infrastructure.” 

Meet our FIR Ambassador

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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.”

Mobile Visual Information Systems

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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