We were building up to Utilities Week Live well before the event. I just couldn’t wait to be there representing Tower. I know we have so much to offer and talk about with those attending, and I was looking forward to being surrounded by innovation and discussions on the hot topics.
Utilities Week Live helps us keep in touch with all the various companies operating in our field. This is so valuable as we all share the same space and have the same passions for the sector, which means we can learn from each other and build on existing, and create new, partnerships.
One of my biggest takeaways was the industry’s current reliance and demand for IoT (aka the ‘internet of things’ - such as devices that share data etc). We interacted with IoT providers at the event, whose job it is to help companies stay connected to equipment, tools, and people.
Although I knew the pandemic had put more of an emphasis on IoT’s importance, it was the sheer volume that surprised me. It was an especially big focus for companies that worked in remote areas, as they face the challenge of keeping the world as small as possible wherever they operate.
One of Tower’s most exciting solutions in this area is our CtrlCloud platform. Its ability to interact and connect with others naturally will likely extend our partnerships to the IoT companies, as they develop into these areas.
It must be innovation and wanting to know what is new. For many people the pandemic has made them feel shut out of the light for months on end, and companies were eager to know what they had missed. For those who had been particularly isolated, the sector now looked like a different world.
Sustainability was a huge topic at the event, and we made it clear it was a big focus for Tower too, so people knew they could talk to us about it. Greenwashing is a current concern for many who want to know the difference between offsetting and true sustainability solutions. We were able to give them the confidence that we understand these challenges.
The Power & Utilities sector is responsible for getting energy to the right place and heating people’s homes, so they naturally understand where the industry is in terms of sustainability and renewable energy. The drive to find new and better ways to deliver energy is as strong as ever in the sector.
The sector is creating and maintaining more wind farms. There is also more of a focus on turning natural gas into hydrogen. But companies are trying to educate people to use less energy too, especially during the current challenges of rising costs and climate change.
The Tower stand at Utilities Week Live 2022 was co-designed and created by Quadrant2Design. They were amazing at working with us to make it truly stand out from the crowd. It utilised every inch of our space well and people could easily move about, interact, and talk to us about PPE and safety.
As well as building the stand at the NEC, Quadrant2Design also provided our team with a chance to see a pre-build setup, to make sure we were completely happy with every aspect. People came and went from the stand for two days non-stop, scanning the QR codes and viewing the apparatus.
We are already booked for next year! The organisers of the event always do a fantastic job and the QR codes on badges was a brilliant way for us to make quick connections that everyone could follow up later. This means the interacting, communicating, and learning doesn’t stop after the event.
Our team is already thinking about what to do even better next year after the success of our ‘Ask Tower’ theme. We want to have even more information easily accessible on screens and on our online landing page for the event, so we can let people know all the ways we can work with them.
If you want to talk about safety, innovation, sustainability, or simply find out more about what Tower can do for you, you can get in touch using our contact form or on 01202 718000.
Bruce works at the forefront of global requirements and is a leading authority on arc flash PPE. Bruce is also highly knowledgeable about the requirements of the Energy and Utilities industry.
