A turning point for CaRT?
WHAT Canal & River Trust call its Operations & Asset Management Directorate, went 'live' recently, with it heralding a restructuring of the Trust's operations and technical teams.
We are told it has been established to help the Trust improve its customer service, deliver more benefits to the public and local communities, improve integration between staff, volunteers and contractors, manage resources more efficiently and increase productivity, and is the result of shake-up of its teams by its Chief Executive Richard Parry.
Seeing for himself
As is well known, Richard has been exceptionally busy by not only 'meeting the people' but attending many waterway functions and seeing for himself the working of the waterways; seeing the failings and realising the opportunities. And the new directorate is the result.
We are further told that reporting to Vince Moran, the directorate has refocused the 11 waterway teams to create new capacity to deliver improved customer service, community engagement and continuing the vital growth of volunteering. The Trust's key technical specialists have been streamlined with the establishment of two new teams. The Asset Management & Performance Team, under George Ballinger, provides a pool of specialists with oversight of the physical condition and risks of the waterways' built and natural infrastructure. The Asset Delivery Team, under Simon Bamford, focuses on delivering the Trust's core maintenance and repair programmes.
Impressed
Of this Richard comments:
"I've been really impressed with how our teams have responded to the challenge over the last few months and helped restructure the way we manage some of our key technical functions. It is no simple matter caring for a 200 years old network, battling the effects of age and the elements and keeping our canals and rivers safe and working for the millions of people who visit. I am confident that the new directorate will lead to greater efficiencies in the way we plan and deliver essential conservation and maintenance work on the waterways, and real improvements for our boating customers and other canal and river visitors.
"This is just the start of a programme to improve the way the Trust works and bring us closer to the many communities that live on and along the waterways. The restructure will give our waterway managers, working with our waterways partnerships, a greater focus on building links with local people, businesses and decision-makers.
Dean Davis
So all is now in place, with it seems the right people in position—we can but wait and see."The new post of Head of Customer Services, for which we are currently recruiting and who will report to me, will help us build even stronger relationships with boaters and the other customer groups we serve. We hope to make an appointment early next year and in the meantime, I want to thank Dean Davies for his outstanding support in managing the role in the interim. Dean has taken on the role of Direct Services Manager in our new Asset Delivery Team and will bring his huge experience as a waterway manager to help the organisation improve the way it delivers its maintenance work at a national level."