South West Highways
Our Favourite Advent Calendars of 2022
27th October 2022
Embrace the Electric Revolution With Rodgers of Plymouth
28th October 2022
South West Highways are the Term Maintenance Contractor (TMC) for Plymouth City Council. We won the contract in 2017, have recently secured the 10 year contract and we look to continue this partnership going forward. Our primary function is to undertake highway maintenance improvement schemes throughout Plymouth, as well as carry out daily safety defect maintenance. Examples of our schemes include the paving on Tavistock Place, outside The Box Museum and the creation of the Ponsonby cycleway. We employ 110 staff which include both office based workers and operatives.
In addition to our day-to-day works, SWH are dedicated in their contribution to the community of Plymouth, this is inclusive of Environmental Awareness, Community Events and Charitable Contribution.
Some of our initiatives and projects that incorporate this are:
Workplace in Bloom
Between spring to summer 2022, SWH undertook an environmental and community driven initiative to encourage biodiversity in the workplace and promote recycling. The objective was to utilise discarded materials and containers around Prince Rock Depot and create planters for a variety of fruits, flowers and shrubs. One of the most successful aspects of this has been the involvement of local primary schools, namely Hyde Park Primary School, Stuart Road Primary School and St Andrews C of E Primary School. PCC Streetworks team donated discarded dust bins which we cleaned, put on a base coat, and delivered to the local primary schools to paint with the theme of ‘What Plymouth Means to You’ and ‘The Environment’. The paint was kindly donated by QC Engineering. Once complete, these have been positioned around the depot and planted with a variety of flowers and shrubs generously donated by YGS Landscaping. This has been a communal effort from SWH, PCC, our suppliers and local schools. In addition to the bins we have used discarded traffic cones, wheelbarrows, hard hats, pallets, grit bins, tractor tyres, road signs and manhole rings. All work was carried out by volunteers and all materials used were donated from local suppliers.
Armed Forces Day
We annually volunteer our time to provide the traffic management for Armed Forces Day which is a celebrations for those who have served the country and promotes veterans charities. This includes providing and maintaining road closures throughout the city as well as gatemen to monitor the closure points and ensure the safety of the public throughout the event.
Building Plymouth
We sponsor and support Plymouth City Council’s ‘Building Plymouth’ initiative which is a scheme designed to promote local employment into the construction industry in Plymouth, thus encouraging career prospects and sharing opportunities. This involves the support of over 45 events in Plymouth, ranging from speaking to Royal Marines at Hasler Naval Service Recovery Centre, to contributing to the delivery of fun educational activity days for children, such as Stemfest at the National Marine Aquarium.
Community Contributions
We host road safety scheme events for children to promote awareness of road safety and help to improve the mindfulness of children when negotiating the streets of Plymouth. In the wider community, we also supply traffic management for events such as Sail GP, the 60th Anniversary of the Commando Gunners Military Parade, and the Plymouth Half Marathon. Low-profile contributions include assisting with local activities such as community associations and residents’ street parties; providing and implementing traffic management and the loan of barriers and signs, and project planning.
Schools
In addition to the Workplace in Bloom initiative, we are regularly involved with local schools around Plymouth via open-days, career fairs and school events. Delivering over 80 inspirational and educational sessions within schools and educational facilities across Plymouth, such as practical lessons relating to construction skills and assisting with mock job interviews. The artwork for the recently undertaken Bridge Refurbishment Scheme was carried through a design event from local schools. SWH also sponsors 4 schools in Plymouth under the Constructing Excellence South West’s ‘Adopt a school’ programme: Plympton Academy, Stoke Damerel Community College, Sir John Hunt Community Sports College and St Boniface’s College. Miller Way School also designed traffic signs for the new zebra crossing 20mph zone as part of a traffic safety scheme (please see picture above).
Apprentices
Internally, we maintain the recruitment of a minimum of 6 apprentices per annum, often we exceed this number and offer support throughout their career going forward. This is inclusive of both office-based staff and on-site operatives. We currently have 1 office-based business apprentice and are looking to recruit another in the coming months. On-site we have 6 apprentices under the supervision of our experienced charge hands.
Charities
SWH in Plymouth recently donated supplies to the non-profit organisation Shekinah, who specialise in helping those who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or in temporary accommodation. The collection was achieved through generous donations from the Prince Rock office-based staff. In addition to this, SWH works closely with various other Plymouth-Based charities such as Princes Trust, Remploy, Routeways and Tomorrow’s People, helping to provide opportunities for those who may need a helping hand. As an example of our support, in collaboration with a local design consultancy we have recently volunteered our time, labour and materials to help with paving works for Routeway’s ‘The Castle’ project to refurbish an area of Devonport Park Activity Centre. Most recently we have undertaken a fundraising event in collaboration with The Mental Health Foundation UK in our Plymouth depot which took place between Monday 10th October to Friday 14th October 2022. We managed to raise £200 in total for the foundation. This was achieved via a bake sale, selling of green ribbons (for mental health awareness), donation pots and custom QR code to the donation web page. We also set up a ‘Positivity Jar’ with positive quotes, free for all to take one. The left-over cakes from the bake sale were then donated to Plymouth Soup Run who are a local charity that deliver soup and hot drinks to the homeless and those in need.
Local Supply Chain
We are dedicated to the support of local businesses and almost exclusively use local suppliers for our materials, fleet and sub-contractors (if ever they are required). This is not only beneficial to the local economy but also benefits the environment by reducing the need for fuel consumption and minimising our environmental impact wherever possible.
