Strictly Highways – Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG)

QMS attended Strictly Highways by LCRIG for the first time!

For us, at QMS attending Strictly Highways was incredibly meaningful, especially as recent members of LCRIG. The event’s layout over the three days was phenomenal and thoughtfully designed which made the whole experience seamless. As first-time attendees and table hosts, we can confidently say that we will return next year!

As a networking event, it opened a corridor of opportunities for us at QMS, not just with potential new clients but also in exploring how we could utilise and tailor our services to effectively support others with their ongoing projects and future goals. It was a pleasure to reconnect with existing customers and see some friendly faces in the industry presenting their company fabulously at the exhibition. It is inspiring to see LCRIG bring together our industry in one event with over 469 attendees.

The awesome highlights of Strictly Highways!

The event was very informative, and the speakers were outstanding. The exhibition hall had over 50 exhibitors representing the highways and transport technology sector and was a wonderful area to network and engage!

At QMS we wanted to shout about a few highlights of the event:

On day one we heard from David Denner, Highways Technology Manager, speak on how the Welsh Government are working with their supply chain to use dynamic dimming on the M4 as part of their Net Zero plan. David Denner also stressed the importance of collaboration to support innovation and be able to achieve objectives more effectively.

One of the core themes: ‘Adaptation’ and ‘Decarbonisation’ led to some excellent conversations and thoughts for us. Jonathan Munslow and Tim Rowland-Deverell highlighted the urgent threat posed by climate change and emphasised that the highways sector is unprepared and lacks coordination and collaboration. Climate change has been highlighted as a key component of the government’s mission; we believe at QMS we are actively ensuring we are reducing carbon emissions when installing our work! We are eagerly waiting to hear more about the plans for the workshop in December to brainstorm ideas and shape the road to adaptation along with other attendees!

A topic spoken across all was the need to instil passion in the younger generation and involve them in industry conversations. The younger generation has been recognised to shape the future of the industry and here at QMS our young team is full of passion, and we strongly believe in career progression through the company!

The Department for Transport Awards:

The 2024 DFT awards, presented by Martin Duffy former CEO of LCRIG, were sponsored by: Winvic, WJ, Kiely, Transport Technology Forum, Redspeed, and Eurovia. As dinner table hosts, we had the amazing opportunity to host for the evening and ensure our guests had an amazing time.

We would like to congratulate the Main Conference Partner A E Yates, for winning the Net Zero Project of the Year Award! It is brilliant to hear that A E Yates, as a key partner for the A595 Moresby Hall Improvement scheme with the National Highways, worked together to reduce the environmental impact of the project, deliver tangible carbon savings, and improve local biodiversity!

Sustainability is a topic that is widely spoken about, and businesses in our industry must act to prevent further damage to our world. At QMS we are working closely with Devon County Council to improve sustainability by removing thermoplastic road markings and replacing junctions with cold-applied markings across Devon! If you would like to read more about our collaboration, check out our blog post 😊 https://qms.uk/news/qms-improving-sustainability-in-devon/.

We would like to extend our congratulations to other award winners including:

Clearview Intelligence – ‘Best Use of Technology in the Highways and Transportation Sector’

Aisin RoadTrace – RoadTrace™ – ‘Transport Technology Innovation’

Multevo and Shropshire Council – ‘Collaborative Partnership (between council(s) and supply chain)

Amey for Staffordshire Social Value Team – ‘Employer Initiative of the Year’

A E Yates – ‘Apprentice of the Year’

Michael Hansford, former Highways Asset Management Team Leader at Dorset Council – ‘Best of Britain’

Our Thanks To:

We would like to thank The Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) for organising this event with a record-breaking attendance of 469 guests!

We would also like to thank the main conference partner A E Yates!

Thank you to, Winvic, WJ, Kiely, Transport Technology Forum, Redspeed, and Eurovia for sponsoring the DFT Special Recognition Awards!

Same time next year LCRIG?