Valuing Our People
NY Highways is a highway maintenance company bringing innovative solutions to the roads of North Yorkshire and beyond. Since launching in June 2021, our team of around 250 experienced professionals have the responsibility for a network of almost 5,800 miles across North Yorkshire.
We are proud of the investment we have made in our people and in technology – from promoting staff and training the next generation of Operatives, Vehicle Technicians, Electricians and Surveyors via apprenticeships to adopting the latest technology and a strong commitment to Quality and Environmental principles, all to ensure the future agility and sustainability of our business.
We are committed to being a modern, diverse and inclusive employer; an employer that creates and develops a future workforce and provides career development opportunities. In particular, we seek to welcome more female and younger colleagues into our workforce as we continue to grow.
Name: Ross Turner
Job title: Operations Manager
Based in: Skipton and Selby
You recently had a promotion to become a Operations Manager – congratulations Ross!
How long have you worked in the team? I’ve been with the team for 25 years now - I started with the county contracting arm of North Yorkshire Council in 1997. I briefly left in 2002 but returned 6 months later and have been here since. I originally started as an Area Electrician covering Skipton and the surrounding area, progressing up to Foreman just over 5 years ago. I took the next step to Senior Supervisor with NY Highways as of January 2022 and now I am Operations Manager!
What are your highlights and most enjoyable aspects of working in highways?
The enjoyable aspect has been the variety of work, from fixing streetlights to gritting the county’s roads, as well as being involved in helping light up my local villages at Christmas for the past 20 years. No two days are the same.
Tell us what qualities you think you need to have a career in highways:
You must be good at problem solving, have excellent communication skills and most of all, have an eye for quality and detail.
What is a typical day in the life of Ross?
From one minute to the next, it changes. I could be planning and scheduling works, or I could be attending call outs. I’m also an HGV driver and can be found gritting the roads around Skipton during the colder months.
Outside of work, what are your hobbies and interests?
I run regularly and have taken part in 10ks, half marathons, marathons, and more recently ultra marathons, which are 100k! I am a run leader at my local running club and find it rewarding helping others to succeed.
Tell us a little-known fun fact about yourself:
I once appeared in my favourite TV programme, Police Interceptors, while attending a callout in Scarborough. And no, I didn’t get arrested!
Contact me
Tel: 07890 068679
Email: ross.turner@nyhighways.co.uk
Add me on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ross-turner-92a789151
Celebrating one year of NY Highways
June 1st marked a full year since NY Highways launched, welcoming around 200 staff into the team from former contractor Ringway. Over the past 12 months, plenty of hard work has been going on behind the scenes to establish and put processes in place.
The biggest achievement has been the collaborative working between NYC and NY Highways, which has ensured the planning and delivering of schemes has been, and will continue to be, successful.
This partnership has led to significant savings against budget and led to the successful delivery of NY Highways’ first winter service alongside NYC. The team kept the county moving through various storms and the experience will help shape future winter service delivery in North Yorkshire.
Innovation is a priority within NY Highways and over the past year, there have been many successes in terms of embracing technology.
In May, the installation of off-grid power units that harness wind and solar power in the Selby and Boroughbridge depots has allowed NY Highways to decrease their reliance on electricity. If successful, these could be rolled out at other locations, helping to boost NYC’s aim to be carbon neutral by 2030.
The roll out of the Connected Safety Net incident reporting app and auditing app will help to make employees’ jobs easier and more efficient. NY Highways is also currently working on the development of AI cameras to automate near-miss recording. These are opportunities to ensure staff ‘go home safe, go home healthy’.
NY Highways is proud to put training and development at the forefront of the business, with a significant investment made to ensure compliance and enable professional development plans, which will continue into year two. In the first year, around £100,000 was spent on training for staff and almost £250,000 has been committed for 2022-2033.
As NY Highways enters its second year in operation, a huge recruitment drive continues to take place to expand the growing team to ensure the company functions as efficiently as possible. In addition, work has begun on an external facing website to boost the commercial side of business.
