Client Story
Morrison Water Services
How triopsis manages Traffic Management Sub-Contractors
Morrison Water Services is a leading utility company with a reputation for ‘Delivering what we promise’ – a commitment that keeps water and wastewater flowing across the UK. Key to this commitment is its repair and maintenance work, which sees its teams working hard to keep our water and wastewater infrastructure in great shape.
With so much of that infrastructure located beneath the road network, repair and maintenance frequently involves digging into the carriageway, so traffic must be managed to enable the work to go ahead. From barriers and temporary lights to full road closures, a range of measures may be needed.
Morrison Water Services doesn’t operate its own traffic management division, so when a job requires this kind of expertise, they call on specialist subcontractors with the skills to get the job done.


We didn’t even look at alternative options to triopsis because our previous experience with them had
been so good.”
Rob Page, Performance and Planning Manager
Morrison Water Services
The challenge
Morrison Water Services has been a valued triopsis client for several years, using the powerful workforce management solution on its Severn Trent Water contract. Having previously relied on spreadsheets, paper forms and phone calls – a drain on time and prone to error – their adoption of triopsis significantly boosted operational efficiency and improved business intelligence too.
When it came to managing their traffic management subcontractors, however, spreadsheets were still the order of the day. According to Rob Page, Performance and Planning Manager at Morrison Water Services, this left the firm hoping, rather than knowing, that a job was proceeding properly. He explains:
“Jobs would come in from our client and we’d pass them to our traffic management subcontractors. They’d then deliver them, but we’d have no visibility or understanding of whether the jobs were on site, set up, on route, maintained or off site until they told us by email the following day.”
With potential traffic management problems ranging from issues such as flat traffic-light batteries through to deliberate damage by motorists, this lack of visibility was always unsatisfactory. With strict conditions laid down by local highways authorities, along with heavy fines for non-compliance and overrunning:
“Up to ten thousand pounds a day on some carriageways,”
according to Rob – the price of non-compliance can be costly, not to mention the safety and traffic flow issues that can arise. Morrison Water Services therefore needed to be able to see that the traffic management was being carried out correctly, and that any issues were being dealt with along the way.
Our solution
The obvious next step for Morrison Water Services was to speak to triopsis, Rob admits:
“We didn’t look at alternative options, but that’s because our previous experience with triopsis had been so good.”
The result was the development of a specific triopsis product called Subcontractor Management for Traffic Management – a solution designed to benefit both utility companies and traffic management subcontractors.
In common with all triopsis solutions, the product’s development involved working closely with Morrison Water Services to make sure it delivered what they needed. Rob says:
“That was one of the reasons we signed up with triopsis. We knew it was always going to be a collaborative approach.”
According to Andy Hutt, Managing Director at triopsis:
“There’s a huge demand for a product like this. All utility companies and tier one contractors who don’t have in-house traffic management suffer a lack of visibility – did the subcontractor do the job? Should we pay them?
Now even if they don’t use triopsis as their main workforce management system, they can still get real-time information and visibility. And that’s evidence for billing. It’s really simple.”
The triopsis difference
Rob Page backs up Andy’s observation, confirming that the new triopsis solution has transformed the billing process, he says:
“triopsis has made it really easy, the visibility and evidence are there, and that’s all we need to be able to pay our subcontractor. And it’s the same with our client – all we want to do is get paid for the work we do. With triopsis, we can demonstrate that to our client, then we can get paid and also pay the supply chain.”
Subcontractor Management for Traffic Management has also helped to manage the incidence of aborted jobs, providing visibility and photographic evidence to make sure Morrison Water Services and their subcontractors still get paid for the work they’ve carried out.
Late amendments to jobs are also handled more efficiently, with the product’s real-time data reflecting the most up-to-date job details.
Facing the future
A key feature of all triopsis solutions is that they never stand still. Rob confirms:
“That’s how we’ve always worked with triopsis, it’s always been a developing product and that’s what we bought into.”
For Andy Hutt, the visibility over billing is a key feature, but he’s also keen to emphasise that the product’s functionality can expand with the client’s needs.
“If clients want to use more of our functionality, they can overlay things like scheduling and enhanced business intelligence. So you’re not just getting day-to-day visibility of the site, you get intelligence that tells you, for instance, how one traffic management company’s performance compares to another. This is a product for any organisation that uses traffic management, including local authorities, highway authorities, utility companies and tier one contractors.”
In fact one of Morrison Water Services’ traffic management subcontractors has already become a triopsis client, Rob says:
“which demonstrates how well our biggest supplier on this contract has taken to using this product,”
It’s more work for Andy and his triopsis team of course – and with so much expertise in managing traffic management successfully, it seems that this particular journey is likely to continue rolling on.

That was one of the reasons we signed up with triopsis. We knew it was always going to be a collaborative approach.”
Rob Page, Performance and Planning Manager
Morrison Water Services

"The Triopsis field management system has significantly improved our field to office reporting times and productivity."
Heath Watts-Robinson
Revenue Protection Manager, Western Power Distribution

"We set a stretch target for Triopsis. They delivered over and above the target. Triopsis Workforce Manager added value immediately. It continues to evolve with the business as we improve."
Martin Deehan
Operations Director North, Electricity North West

"Using Triopsis has also helped us review our own processes to make sure we have proper business processes in place. It is great to have a partner who has dealt with other companies going through the same challenges and processes."
Roger Sparks
Metering Manager, Western Power Distribution

"Triopsis is actually the greatest work tool we have and we will continue to use it. We currently have 120 users and I would expect other divisions of SSE will see the benefits in future."
Sharon Cole
Senior Integration Manager, SSE

"Triopsis workforce manager added value immediately. It continues to evolve with the business as we improve."
Martin Deehan
Operations Director North, Electricity North West

"In terms of use on site, in terms of development and in terms of the data we get out of it, Triopsis is right up there at the top. The support we’ve had has been incredible."
Rob Page
Performance and Change Manager, Morrison Utility Services

"We set a stretch target for Triopsis. They delivered over and above target."
Martin Deehan
Operations Director North, Electricity North West

"Speed of implementation was absolutely perfect."
Sharon Cole
Senior Integration Manager, SSE

"We threw an awful lot at Triopsis at the start, and we’ve been quite demanding, but I think the word partnership is spot on. That’s exactly what has been built up over the last 12 months or so."