Glendale awarded £5.5m utility arboriculture framework

Glendale has secured a £5.5 million framework agreement with Western Power Distribution (WPD) to provide utility arboriculture services within several locations across the East and West Midlands region.

The work will involve vegetation management, line clearance and utility arboriculture for storm resilience maintenance purposes around WPD’s distribution network.

Glendale will complement the existing team with 150 additional utility arborists and a management team to work on the five-year framework agreement, which has the option to be extended for a further five-years.

Utility arboriculture requires operatives to work alongside high and low voltage power lines.  Specialists working on the contract must have completed relevant industry training to national standards and WPD’s own stringent training and authorisation protocols.

In addition, Glendale is extending its successful Arb Academy and apprenticeship scheme, which has been successful in the South West, to cover the entire scope of its operating areas.

James Thomson, director of utility arboriculture at Glendale, said: “Utility arboriculture is incredibly specialist but Glendale’s experienced teams have been delivering utility solutions for the past 20 years. We will carry out detailed arboriculture surveys of the vegetation, gain consent from any landowners, then undertake any work in line with the surveyor’s assessment. We’ll also monitor the strength and stability of any trees within falling distance of power lines, which will minimise any downtime on the network due to tree incursions.

“This framework agreement will strengthen our existing relationship with WPD and establish Glendale as a significant provider of utility arboriculture services in the UK.”

Glendale already carries our a large amount of surveying, permissioning and vegetation management work on behalf of WPD in the South West.

The new framework agreement covers a wide geographical spread which includes Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, Chesterfield and Mansfield.  It commenced on January 1, 2015.