- Resources including a Cadent rapid response motorcycle were deployed to deal with any gas related emergencies during the Royal Wedding
- Months of preparation saw Cadent liaise with local authorities and palace officials to coordinate work around venues and develop contingency plans for the big day
- Planning its essential work to fit in around major public events and people’s daily lives is part of Cadent’s DNA
With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Royal Wedding now a part of history the behind the scenes story of how Britain’s biggest gas network Cadent played a part in the big day can be revealed.
Windsor is part of Cadent’s North London gas distribution network and in the weeks and months preceding the Royal Wedding, Cadent engineers and support staff were hard at work ensuring the local gas network was ready for the big day.
Gas mains in the vicinity of Windsor Castle and other locations associated with the Royal Wedding such as the carriage route were checked in advance of the event and essential work to replace ageing gas mains in the area was carefully planned to ensure it didn’t have any adverse impact on the event.
A rapid reaction team including one of Cadent’s elite band of emergency bikers was on standby to spring into action and deal with any gas emergencies on the big day. Cadent motorcyclists are qualified FCO (First Call Operatives) who respond to reports of suspected gas escapes, who volunteer to undergo further training as emergency bikers. They ride specially adapted BMW 1200RT-P bikes, which have the same specifications as emergency police bikes, other than instead of blue lights and a siren, they have an orange beacon. The bikes enable FCOs to get through congested traffic to investigate suspected gas escapes as quickly as possible.
Cadent Performance and Assurance Manager Bryan Furness, who oversaw Royal Wedding preparations by Cadent, said: “Prior to the wedding we made thorough assessments to our local gas network to ensure it was sound and functioning correctly.
“We liaised with Windsor Castle and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to ensure any planned work to our network was either carried out beforehand or scheduled afterwards around the wedding.”
He added: “We had carefully developed contingency plans and resources such as the rapid-response motorcycle in place to ensure our engineers could deal with any suspected gas escapes as soon as possible.”
However though the Royal Wedding was a major event in some ways it was business as usual for Cadent, as Mr Furness explained: “Working around major events is very much part of Cadent’s DNA.
“For example in our London network each year we have to plan our work around major events such as the Lord Mayor’s Show and the London Marathon, while in previous years we’ve had events such as the 2012 Olympics and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee along with the Royal Wedding in 2011 to contend with.”
He added: “However these major events are just one part of our work and Cadent is committed to ensuring our network keeps on delivering safe and reliable gas to all of the public who we serve and that any work we need to do to our network has as little impact as possible on their lives.”
To find out more about Cadent’s work visit
www.cadentgas.com