When bad gritting companies drop the ball for good clients

With yet more widespread frosts across the country this week and busy Christmas shoppers
filling carparks and retail estates, it’s frustrating to see examples of bad gritting taking place
on our doorstep. When visiting the branch of a well-known convenience store chain near
our office this week (to top up on mince pies and sprouts, of course) a member of the
AccuGrit team noticed some really poor gritting treatment had taken place in the car park
and in front of the shop.

The whole area was dotted with clumps of wet, pink, clay-based and dirty salt that clearly
hadn’t spread properly and that left swathes of the carpark without adequate grit cover.
What was even more worrying was that had an employee or helpful member of the public
wanted to fill in the gaps to prevent an accident, the onsite grit bin was totally empty.

Businesses have an obligation to ensure that their premises are safe and accessible for staff,
suppliers and the public and this was definitely an example where that obligation wasn’t
being met. No doubt the estates team at this brand or the person whose job it is to ensure
their sites around the country are treated in icy weather trusted their gritting provider to do
a better job. Sadly, it seems that in this instance this simply isn’t the case, and they are at
risk of having to pay out if someone were to slip and hurt themselves on ice.

In our experience this has all the hallmarks of a national gritting contract which was most
likely won through a tender process where the main driver was price. A race to the bottom
will always be risky as it leaves businesses exposed to an operator who is cutting corners to
make their margins. Here at AccuGrit we possess the key combination of decades of
experience in winter maintenance, a trusted network of operatives and high-quality
equipment to ensure the sites we are responsible for are always treated properly. If salt is
wet and clumping together then both our pedestrian and vehicle mounted spreading
machinery have clever features to break up clumps and ensure an even spread. Plus, you’ll
find us competitive on price whilst still offering an excellent service and total peace of mind.

Why not drop us a line to find out why companies choose to work with us for their gritting
and snow clearing requirements. Just click here to email the team.