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M Group Services is the UK’s leading utility services provider, supporting critical infrastructure across electricity, gas, rail, telecoms and water. For over 12 years, Sopra Steria has partnered with M Group, delivering Business Process Services (BPS) from our offshore centre in Noida - enabling scalable, high-performance street works operations.
The challenge
As street works activity continued to grow in scale and complexity, M Group Services saw an opportunity to further strengthen operational efficiency, responsiveness and visibility across its programmes.
With a high volume of projects to manage, there was a clear focus on improving turnaround times, enhancing permit success rates and providing teams with better access to real-time information to keep work progressing smoothly and minimise disruption, including reducing the risk of delays or aborted jobs. Permits are a critical part of street works delivery, enabling utility providers to coordinate activities safely, minimise disruption to the public and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
At the same time, evolving industry expectations highlighted the importance of greater transparency, streamlined reporting and more accessible data for field teams.
By addressing these areas, M Group aimed to create a more agile, insight-driven operation that was better equipped to support safe, timely and high-quality delivery.
The solution
Sopra Steria partnered with M Group Services to reimagine street works operations, delivering a scalable, future-ready operating model built for resilience, efficiency and growth.
A dedicated offshore team of street works specialists was established, providing 24/7 support and the flexibility to adapt to changing work demands. This was complemented by real-time job visibility delivered through Sopra Steria’s SafeDash platform, supported by mobile access.
SafeDash is a web and mobile platform designed to improve visibility, speed and safety across safe dig operations, bringing together digital workflows, real-time dashboards and on-the-go access for field teams. Integrated with Electronic Transfer of Notifications (EToNs), it provides end-to-end visibility of job status and supports faster, more informed decision-making.
Field teams were equipped with the Safe Dig packs, giving them fast, reliable access to critical underground asset information, helping improve planning, reduce delays and enhance on-site decision-making. Digital and automation capabilities were also introduced to support improved safety and compliance.
Standardised processes and enhanced reporting brought greater consistency, transparency and control across operations, enabling faster turnaround times and a more effective way of tracking performance.
The impact
This transformation has enabled M Group Services to strengthen operational performance while scaling its services across the UK. It has achieved:
- 100% turnaround on emergency works, enabling faster response times.
- Zero job aborts, compared to industry averages of 5–10%.
- Improved permit success rates, supporting smoother programme delivery.
- Reduced defects and associated penalties, helping streamline operations and minimise disruption.
- 75% cross-skilled workforce, enabling greater agility and faster response to changing customer and operational needs.
Enhanced management information and analytics now provide clearer insights, supporting more informed, data-driven decisions across the organisation. Importantly, this has been achieved while enabling M Group to expand without increasing onshore headcount.
Conclusion
Through a long-term partnership focused on continuous improvement, Sopra Steria has supported M Group Services in evolving its street works operations into a more agile, scalable and insight-led model.
By combining specialist expertise, digital innovation and offshore delivery, the organisation is now better positioned to deliver safe, efficient and high-quality infrastructure services – at scale and with confidence.
Get in touch
Whether you're scaling safe-dig operations, improving compliance, or driving greater efficiency, our team can help you deliver faster, safer, and more reliable street works.
Email Caroline Hurford-Jones, Client Director at Sopra Steria.