Does your business need a winter gritting contractor?
Although it’s approaching the end of February and we are all now looking forward to spring and better weather to come, there is no guarantee that we won’t experience another cold spell similar to that in early December 2022.
Contact our winter gritting team to discuss a personalised contract
Clearway Gritting recommends you contact our winter gritting team in St Albans to set up a gritting contract now on 01727 851837, rather than having to react if snow and ice arrives in March. Last year the winter gritting season continued into April and although Clearway Gritting contracts typically run until 31st March, these can be extended into April to meet customers’ needs.
Clearway Gritting inundated with phone calls for gritting and snow clearance during December
The snowfall between 11th and 15th December surprised many businesses. All of our Clearway Gritting contracted clients were serviced by their local Clearway Gritting teams based in St Albans, Huntingdon, Aylesbury, Harlow, High Wycombe, and Milton Keynes.
During this period, for our contracted clients, we were able to respond to 69 reactive call outs for snow clearance visits and 122 reactive call outs for our teams to grit premises. This was in addition to over 700 site visits per night on the regular gritting round. Having a gritting contract in place gives our clients the peace of mind that their colleagues and customers can always access their premises.
How Clearway Gritting managed the bad weather in December 2022
Anand Clarke, Operations Manager, Clearway Gritting, St Albans, Hertfordshire said:
‘We recommend when you choose a winter gritting contractor you sign a contract with a company that is well established and has a local gritting team. As we have teams in six hubs across the south-east you know your business will never be more than 30 minutes from one of our gritting teams.
Clearway Gritting is the largest winter gritter in the south-east of England and has well established experienced gritting teams. However, the snow event in early December 2022 did test our gritting teams and pushed them to the limit. The sustained cold temperatures we experienced meant the snow did not start to melt for some days, instead becoming impacted. This meant it was impossible to plough and the salt struggled to make an impact, particularly in areas of low traffic movements.
Given our 20 years’ experience, we managed to overcome the difficulties and deal with a protracted cold spell, but this example shows how important it is to ask the right questions when you choose a gritting contractor.’
Clearway Gritting teams doing more gritting in 2022/23
Between November 1st 2022 and 9th February 2023 Clearway Gritting teams made 18,762 winter gritting visits to our clients’ premises, exceeding the total number of site visits we undertook in the whole of last season! Our winter gritting teams also used more salt than in previous years. 3,443 tonnes of salt were used at sites compared with 2,514 tonnes last season. With a strong supplier network, we have ample stocks of bagged and loose salt throughout our chain of depots, and can call upon fresh deliveries at a moments notice ensuring we will always be able to supply the winter gritting service our clients require.
Find a winter gritting contract suitable for your business
The health and safety of your colleagues and customers should be your priority. Clearway Gritting offer a variety of different winter gritting contracts for any business working in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire, and North London. We offer customised local winter gritting contracts from a team near you. We can offer complete seven days a week cover, 24 hours a day. A five day a week cover so your business gets gritting services Monday-Friday. Organise a winter gritting contract now and our gritting teams will service your business if bad weather arrives.
Anand Clarke, Operations Manager, Clearway Gritting, St Albans, Hertfordshire continued:
‘Clearway Gritting work with private businesses, schools, universities, retail parks, industrial parks, and supermarkets. Unfortunately, we DON’T offer a private snow clearance or gritting service unless the driveway or paths are part of an extensive area such as a large private estate. We do however supply grit bins and bagged salt, should that be an option for smaller areas or private individuals.
For more information read – How to clear snow and ice. Unfortunately, as councils don’t grit every road now, when the bad weather arrives, we do get phone calls from private residents.
During the December snow event we were inundated by calls from businesses that haven’t got a plan in place. Unfortunately, we were unable to service every new business enquiry as we were prioritising our existing customers. It is unfortunate that as budgets are so tight some businesses don’t now prioritise organising a winter gritting contractor.
Whilst the next few days all look to be warmer, we still have six weeks of the season remaining and we welcome new enquires and will sign up clients at any time of the year!’
In Summary…
Cold weather could still hit the UK in March and April, as it did in 2022. Call our winter gritting team now on 01727 851837 to discuss how to set up a winter gritting contract for the remainder of the 2022/23 gritting season.
