The Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival 2018 will be taking place between Monday, the 9th, and Friday, the 13th, at Marquee Village, Newcastle Racecourse, High Gosforth Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE3 5HP. Led by Northern Gas Networks, VLS, and its own Fleet Manager, the sprint will see a whole range of people from Energy Saving Trust, Iveco, Toyota, ITM and Green Road coming together.

The guests will be at the festival to discuss and explore some of the key issues around transport in the future, such as ‘What type of fuel will we all be using to power journeys in the future?’, ‘Will we continue to buy and own vehicles, or just rent as we need?’, ‘How would any radical changes affect our working lives?’, and ‘What impact might they have on our homes and living spaces?’.

“Drivers of the future will see their everyday journeys transformed by new technology. Businesses operating fleets of technically complex specialist vehicles, as well as vans and cars, will need to embrace the advances in alternative fuel technology.  VLS is already looking to provide customers with the most effective transport solutions depending on vehicle type and operational demands,” said Daniel Keating, managing director at Vehicle Lease & Service (VLS).

Businesses attending the festival are extremely keen to discover how the future of travel will impact on how companies operate and grow going forward.  

“As the UK continues its journey to decarbonisation, we cannot overlook the impact of transport and its contribution to carbon emissions. At the moment, the vehicles we use for our everyday journeys rely on fossil fuels but it’s time to look beyond these,” commented Keith Owen, Head of Systems Development and Energy Strategy at Northern Gas Networks.

Fleet Manager Kate Wilson from Northumbrian Water said: “The ‘Moving On’ sprint is a real highlight for the innovation festival and could potentially lead to changes in how companies and organisations look and deal with transport for the future.”

“A lot of people will be really interested to see what comes out of our sprint and here at Northumbrian Water we are always looking to improve and innovate our fleet and are hoping to identify and tap into some emerging trends and technology!”