BEAR Scotland ‘Name A Gritter’ Competition06 Jul 2020

The Winners!

Earlier this year we ran a colouring in competition to help beat boredom during lockdown and to help us come up with a name for our gritters.

We ran a competition for the public as well as one for our staff and their families.

We had so many great entries that in the end we decided to pick six winners!  

The new names are:

• Megameltasaurus – Cooper Gilland, 6

• Frosty – Tyler Marshall, 8

• The Great Grittish Flake Off – Angus Ewen, 11

• Snow Angel – Sara Marshall, 9

• Veruca Salt – Brodie Blackall, 11

• Licence to Chill – Hannah, 13

Congratulations to the winners and a huge thanks to everyone who entered.  The new names will be appearing on BEAR Scotland’s gritters in time for next winter!

Watch a video here to see more!

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Join Our Team - We're Hiring!05 Jun 2020

BEAR Scotland manage, maintain and improve almost 2,000km of Scottish trunk road including over 3,000 bridges and structures through some of the most scenic, but challenging, parts of the country. We currently operate Management & Maintenance contracts for trunk roads in the North West and North East of Scotland as well as a small section of the M80 between Stepps and Haggs. From August we will add the South East of Scotland to our geographical coverage which includes the iconic Forth Bridge and Queensferry Crossing.

If you are looking to develop your career at this challenging time, we have a wide range of roles available at all levels across Asset Management, Network Management, Roads Design & Supervision, Bridges Design & Supervision and Traffic & Road Safety.

These roles include:

• Managers

• Graduates & Technicians

• Engineers & Senior Engineers

• Trainee Engineers & Technicians

• Specialists

• Commercial and Finance

Our demanding work programmes continue to expand and as such we have opportunities available across Scotland.  This is your chance to help manage and improve the national trunk road network. We have main offices in Perth, Inverness, Chryston and Edinburgh with over 20 local depots spread across the country.

What we are looking for:

We are looking for self-motivated staff who are interested in progressing their careers. Relevant qualifications and experience is preferable but not essential for all posts. We are also keen to recruit trainees for whom we will provide full training and education towards a recognised industry qualification.

 Why work for us:

Day in, day out, our teams develop, manage and maintain the vital infrastructure that forms part of Scotland’s most important asset; it’s Trunk Road Network. We will help develop your technical and wider skills with appropriate training, encouragement and guidance. As part of our ICE accredited training programme Graduates and Technicians will be provided with training that enables them to develop the attributes of a professional engineer.

Get in Touch:

If you would like to come and join us, or even if you want an informal chat to explore what’s on offer, please send us an e-mail at recruitment@bearscotland.co.uk

About BEAR:

BEAR is an alliance formed by Eurovia, Jacobs and Breedon to provide road network management and maintenance solutions to Transport Scotland. Our unique blend of engineering capability, innovation and customer care has helped BEAR become Scotland’s leading private-sector operator, managing and maintaining around 80% of Scotland’s strategic roads. We pride ourselves on delivering a first-rate service to our clients based on the whole-hearted commitment of our employees, our flexible approach, our breadth of experience and our operational capability. Having offices and depots with highly skilled people located throughout the country, our dedicated teams are working around the clock, tackling just about every imaginable task on Scotland’s Trunk Roads.

BEAR Scotland_Opportunites across BEAR Scotland_June 2020.pdf

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Essential Road Maintenance to Begin Across North West Trunk Roads02 Jun 2020

• Road crews to begin carrying out road marking renewal, road stud work and safety barrier work across routes

• Strict physical distancing protocols in place for safety

A programme of essential maintenance work across trunk roads in the north west of Scotland gets underway this week.  

As well as five overnight surfacing projects across the A82 and A83, announced last week, the programme also involves road marking renewal work across the A84 and A85, road stud installations on the A87, A887 and A82, and safety barrier replacement projects at Tyndrum and Letterfindlay on the A82.  Other general projects such as coring work will also be carried out at various locations to inform plans for wider surfacing projects expected to take place later this year.

It is vital that this essential maintenance work is carried out in order to maintain the integrity and safety of the trunk road network in the north west of Scotland, helping to ensure it remains safe and reliable for key workers, deliveries and those making essential journeys.  

This week teams from BEAR Scotland will begin carrying out the programme of work.  While the majority of work will be carried out using mobile working, temporary traffic lights will be in place at some locations to protect teams and road users during the programme of work with signs erected in advance to warn motorists.  

Strict physical distancing protocols, in line with Scottish Government guidance, will be in place to ensure all site personnel remain safe as work gets underway.  New safe operation procedures and risk assessments have also been developed to ensure teams are kept safe throughout the maintenance work.  

Eddie Ross, North West Representative for BEAR Scotland said:  “We’re advising all road users that as of this week our teams will be more active on the road network carrying out vital maintenance to ensure key routes are kept safe.

“This work has been prioritised and identified as essential to ensure the trunk road network remains safe for key workers, emergency services, deliveries and those making essential journeys.  

“We’ve altered our operations so that strict physical distancing protocols in line with Government guidance can be observed at all times, and we’ll continue to prioritise the safety of our teams and that of our supply chain above all else during this difficult time.  

“While traffic levels are generally lower, we still ask all motorists to please slow down and be mindful of any temporary traffic management or road signs in place for the protection of our teams as well as themselves.

“As always we’ll do all we can to ensure that this programme of work is completed as quickly and as safely as possible.”

Real time journey information is available from Traffic Scotland on www.trafficscotland.org, twitter at @trafficscotland or the new mobile site my.trafficscotland.org.

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North East Connections Spring 2020 - out now!21 Apr 2020

The Spring issue of North East Connections, BEAR Scotland's newsletter for the North East Trunk Road Unit, is out now!

Read more about the latest news from the North East network, including a round-up of our winter service, a closer look at an innovative surfacing project on the A92 in Fife as well as an overview of our Traffic and Road Safety team.   

Stay up to date with the North East Unit by following us on Twitter @NETrunkRoads or via BEAR Scotland's Instagram page.

Click here to read the latest issue or download a copy via the link below.

BEAR Scotland North East Connections_Stakeholder Newsletter_Spring 2020.pdf

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North West Connections - Spring 202008 Apr 2020

The latest issue of North West Connections, BEAR Scotland's newsletter for the North West Trunk Road Unit is out now!

Read more about the latest news from the North West network, including a round-up of our winter service, a look back at some of our recent projects and how we've been working with veteran's charity Scotland's Bravest Manufacturing Company.

Stay up to date with the North West Unit by following us on Twitter @NWTrunkRoads.

Click here to view the latest issue or download a copy via the link below.

BEAR Scotland North West Connections_Stakeholder Newsletter_Spring 2020.pdf

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BEAR Scotland response to Covid-19 outbreak26 Mar 2020

26.03.20

We are currently working in difficult and unprecedented times.  The safety of our employees and supply chain is always of paramount importance and we’re closely following Government advice in relation to our staff and our business.  This is changing on a daily basis, and we’re doing our utmost to adhere to any new advice as it emerges. 

At present all staff are working from home where possible. We have taken the decision to suspend operations, and are making safe various worksites this week following which only essential services such as our Incident Control Room, winter maintenance, emergency response and essential road safety operations will continue.  We’ve also taken steps to make our workplaces as safe as possible with strict protocols in place which limit contact and adhere to social distancing guidance.  

As noted, we are currently working to ensure that any ongoing non-essential road maintenance projects are paused and left in a manner which is safe for public use.  Any work which was scheduled to begin in the coming weeks will be reprogrammed, and stakeholders will be kept informed of any new dates.  

BEAR provides an essential service ensuring the trunk road network across the north of Scotland along with the A92 Dundee to Arbroath and the  M80 Stepps to Haggs are fit for the purpose of national resilience including delivery of food and medical supplies, as well as ensuring vital access for the use of the emergency services and critical workers.

We are working to support the Ministerial call for efforts to be focused on delivering critical services to safeguard our road network, helping to ensure that Scotland’s emergency services can still reach those most in need during this difficult time.

We will endeavour to provide updates to this situation as they arise.  In the meantime, please stay home and follow advice for keeping safe.

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