The Insider: Martin Duffy on becoming the CEO of LCRIG

30/07/2020 |

I’ve been aware of LCRIG since its formation in 2013 and have always quietly tracked its progress as it grew from those humble beginnings in Blackpool with just a handful of members to what it has become today.

With more than 60 local highway authority members and an impressive 57 private sector associate membership, it has become an organisation that is well recognised and respected by government departments and officials.

In fairness a large part of its success has been due to the tireless efforts of Will Britain who many of us will have seen over the years ‘treading the boards’ at various conferences extolling the benefits of councils working together.

In order to help facilitate the next steps for LCRIG the Board asked me to join as CEO just about a month ago and of course, I was delighted to accept. After all, I thought ‘now all the hard work has been done…’ Not unexpectedly I was sadly wrong.

In truth, since taking on the role of CEO, my feet haven’t touched the ground and I’m really pleased to say that’s because I’ve been inundated with calls, emails and LinkedIn messages wishing me the best of luck in the new role but also wanting to find out more about LCRIG and what our future plans are.

So this seems like the ideal opportunity to share those plans beyond the LCRIG membership.

In addition to the things you’d expect, like undertaking a review of the terms of reference and providing some challenge to the existing business plan I am also exploring the benefits of establishing a Community Interest Company (CIC) to provide a little more rigour around LCRIG governance and operations.

If we create such a structure it will allow LCRIG to operate along the lines of any other limited company, being able to procure goods and services, lease offices and apply for government funding.

Having an appropriate legal structure in place such as a CIC will provide LCRIG with significant freedom to identify and adapt to circumstances, potentially being able to take advantage of opportunities in a way that would otherwise not be possible.

In order to create a CIC, we need to demonstrate that we are here to serve a social purpose rather than making a profit and that LCRIG has been formed in the community or wider public interest. This shouldn’t be too hard following on from the hard work already done by the team that has helped to position LCRIG at the centre of sharing good practice, skills, experience and knowledge across our highways community.

While a CIC is not complicated, it can be quite complex simply due to the number of mandatory elements and how they cross-relate. So what I’ve learnt is that it is important to work alongside a knowledgeable and pragmatic lawyer when making such governance changes and having Anthony Collins Solicitors on board to provide that steer has been fundamental. What they have managed to do is to suppress the engineer in me by stopping me from taking the parts straight out of the box and building the model without reading the instructions!

So, hopefully within the next few weeks we will have formed the Local Council Roads Innovation Group CIC – still known in short as LCRIG.

In these first few weeks I’ve also been lucky enough to speak directly with some local authority members and associate members consisting of contractors and material providers. These discussions have been enlightening and largely focused on an emerging framework for small pavement works that will be freely available to all LCRIG members.

The initial level of interest by ‘smaller’ companies has exceeded expectations and I’m excited by the fact that not only will members be able to use the appointed suppliers but the contract documents are being made available to other members so they can replicate the model in their own regions.

In doing so, this would provide LCRIG with the opportunity to create something of a nationwide community of innovative companies that all members could tap in to.

As each subsequent framework would be procured at different times this would have the effect of continually refreshing the innovation pool meaning no client would need to wait for four years for the term of a single framework to expire before being able to access new innovative suppliers.

Local highway authorities are very focused on innovation and sharing best practice across the highways sector and this is something at the core of LCRIG. Through these early discussions it was evident that information being shared at present was often nothing more than anecdotal in the form of case studies making claims about a product or technique but without any technical evidence to support the claims.

Its for this reason that clients will only trial products or techniques in their own authority despite it having been in use for a number of years elsewhere in the UK.

This of course is very frustrating for the suppliers resulting in unnecessary costs and a slower take up of innovation than would otherwise be the case.

To some extent this bears out my view offered up in an earlier article in Highways on the subject of innovation where I concluded that the pace of change in our sector wasn’t something for us to be proud of.

Therefore, perhaps we ought to push the concept of each LCRIG member sharing a one-pager, say twice per year, consisting of content that described just one of their latest innovations complete with technical evidence of performance such as the data from a core or SCRIM results.

Its initiatives of this nature I’d like to push forward in LCRIG to strengthen our position as the ‘go to’ organisation for innovation within the sector.

In addition I’m making sure that I take on board a wider view so I’ve managed to touch base with CECA and MHA+ to explore synergies, avoid duplication and spread the LCRIG message. Next stop, DfT.

Finally, I’m confident that LCRIG can achieve much more than it has already, not because of my input, but because of the enthusiastic team that I work with, for whom nothing is too much trouble.

Highways InProfile

latest magazine issue
Highways jobs

Project Lead - Bridges and Structures WMF3037e

£45,718 to £46,731
We are currently seeking to recruit a Project Lead to join our Bridges and Structures team Kendal, Cumbria
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Traffic Management Technician - WMF3040e

£27,711 - £28,624
Are you an organised and motivated individual who wants to make a difference to how our roads are managed? Cumbria / Various
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Traffic Management Officer - WMF2114e

£37,035 - £37,938
Are you an experienced and motivated professional looking to take the next step in your traffic management career? Cumbria / Various
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Senior Transport Planner

£47,532 - £50,574
Royal Greenwich is a borough synonymous with first class modern services Greenwich, London (Greater)
Recruiter: Royal Borough of Greenwich

Technician - Highway Inspector

Grade 8 £28,797 - £30,708 per annum (Pay Award Pending)
Within the Highways Maintenance Team we are looking for an enthusiastic, customer focused and experienced person to join the Service Derbyshire
Recruiter: Derbyshire County Council

Project Delivery Senior Team Leader

£74,480 - £85,964
Are you an experienced Chartered Civil Engineer (or equivalent professional qualification) Glasgow City
Recruiter: Transport Scotland

Assistant Traffic Management Technician - WMF2104e

£25,584 - £25,992
Westmorland and Furness Council is seeking an organised and enthusiastic individual to join our South Lakeland team Kendal, Cumbria
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Bulky Operative

£25,584.00 - £27,269.00, Grade 5, 37 hours, Permanent.
An opportunity exists in the Council’s Street Scene Services for a Bulky Operative Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recruiter: Wakefield Council

Project Delivery Team Leader

£57,710 - £71,842
Are you an experienced Chartered Civil Engineer (or equivalent professional qualification). Glasgow City
Recruiter: Transport Scotland

Traffic Management Officer - WMF2102e

£37,035 - £37,938
This is a key role supporting the delivery a wide range of traffic and road safety schemes. Kendal, Cumbria
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Shared Service Manager (Waste) North Herts Council

£52000 - £61000 per annum
Shared Service Manager (Waste) North Herts CouncilNorth Herts CouncilPermanent, Full Time£52,866 - £61,866 per annum, plus car allowance (pay award pe England, Hertfordshire, Letchworth Garden City
Recruiter: Essex County Council

Street Scene Protection Officer - Braintree District Council

£30000 - £34000 per annum
Street Scene Protection Officer - Braintree District CouncilBraintree District CouncilPermanent, Full Time£30,313 to £34,612 per annumLocation
Recruiter: Essex County Council

Traffic Management Officer - WMF2102e

£37,035 - £37,938
This is a key role supporting the delivery a wide range of traffic and road safety schemes. Kendal, Cumbria
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Assistant Traffic Management Technician - WMF2104e

£25,584 - £25,992
This is a key support role, helping to deliver a wide range of traffic and road safety schemes across South Lakeland. Kendal, Cumbria
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Flood Risk Engineering and Strategy Officer

£49,764 - £55,623
In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce Coventry, West Midlands
Recruiter: Coventry City Council

Senior Integrated Transport Officer

£34,324 - £37,529
Are you an experienced transport planning professional ready to influence strategic policy and drive real change Matlock, Derbyshire
Recruiter: Derbyshire County Council

Roadworker Trainee LGV Driver (3 Posts)

Grade 6 £25,183 - £25,638 per annum (Pay award pending)
We’re looking for Roadworker/trainee LGV drivers to be part of our team undertaking major highway, bridge and related construction and reconstruction Derbyshire
Recruiter: Derbyshire County Council

Engineer

£44,430 - £51,663
This post is within the Highways Design and Delivery Team. London (Greater)
Recruiter: Tower Hamlets London Borough Council

Civil Enforcement Officer - WMF3013e

£27,711 -£28,624
Are you seeking an active and challenging role, part of a friendly and welcoming team? Cumbria / Various
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

UGO Bus Driver

Up to £25081.00 per annum
UGO Bus DriverPermanent, Part TimeUp to £25,081 per annum (full time equivalent)Location
Recruiter: Essex County Council
SUBSCRIBE NOW

Latest Video

Subscribe to Highways today to ensure you keep your finger on the pulse of everything happening in the UK road network throughout the year.

SUBSCRIBE NOW