Scotia Gas Networks

Scotia Gas Networks is the second largest UK gas distribution company supplying 5.7 million homes and businesses across a wide swathe of the south east of England and throughout Scotland. It supplies gas to domestic, commercial and industrial customers through 75,000 kilometres of gas mains. In Scotland, three quarters of households, including many in remote areas, receive their gas from the company. Across a wide area of southern England, stretching from Milton Keynes to Dover in the east and Lyme Regis in the west, including London boroughs south of the Thames, almost four million households and businesses are supplied.

With 1,500 mobile engineers providing 24/7 coverage across a large area of southern England that includes some of the most densely populated and heavily trafficked parts of the UK, knowing the precise location of engineers and getting them between jobs as efficiently as possible, was a major challenge to SGN.

The nature of the job requires SGN to attend emergencies quickly in order to meetings its obligations to protect the public and to meet tough regulatory requirements. Also the ability to give customers accurate ‘expected time of arrival’ information was key to managing their expectations and providing a high level of service. Locating key network installations, especially in the hours of darkness and often by engineers who were outside of their normal territory, was also crucial.

Improving the safety of its engineers on the move, was an additional consideration for the company along with minimising vehicle mileage, cutting fuel usage and reducing the overall level of emissions from its fleet.