North Lanarkshire Council Wins the David Collett Client Award

CHATHAM - 22 Sept 2025 

We are honoured to announce that North Lanarkshire City Council has won Brightly Software’s David Collett Client Award for 2025, recognising their innovative and resourceful use of technology to improve community spaces.

For 15 years, David Collett shaped what customer advocacy means to Brightly today and set the precedent for best-in-class customer support. He believed in our clients, in their goals, and in their ambition to keep improving. He never stopped asking how we could help them achieve more.

North Lanarkshire Council earned this recognition for its forward-thinking approach to conducting a statutory open space assessment as part of its local development plan. Rather than investing in new surveying equipment, the council leveraged its existing Confirm application and other modern tools to carry out a comprehensive audit, delivering meaningful insights while remaining cost-effective.

Using Brightly’s Confirm Connect mobile solution, Green Space Rangers collected detailed data on 75 observation types per site, covering accessibility, quality, maintenance, safety, biodiversity, and play opportunities. To manage this efficiently, the council created three separate inspection routes within Confirm, streamlining the data collection process across varied open space types.

The data was then analysed using SQL scripts and visualised through GIS dashboards and report formats, enabling clear communication with stakeholders and supporting informed decision-making. This methodology not only fulfilled statutory obligations but also provided a robust foundation for enhancing outdoor spaces for the community.

Despite the challenge of managing large volumes of complex data, North Lanarkshire overcame this by using structured observation types and leveraging Confirm’s flexible capabilities. Their approach enabled:

•  Fulfilment of the statutory open space audit requirement
• Comprehensive data collection on the condition and usage of open spaces
• Improved analysis and reporting capabilities 
• Informed decision-making for future enhancements

By adapting existing technology to meet evolving needs, North Lanarkshire Council has set a benchmark for innovation in local government, making a real impact for residents and earning well-deserved recognition through the David Collett Award.

Reflecting on the achievement, Gerard McGrath, Technical Officer (Systems & Assets) from North Lanarkshire Council shared:

“It is a tremendous honour for North Lanarkshire Council to receive the David Collett Award for innovation with the Confirm System. I remember how impressed David was with Steven’s initial demonstration and how keen he was for him to share it at one of our first Scottish group meetings. This award is a testament to the hard work and collaboration between our Park Ranger Service, Planning Team, and Confirm Admin Team, who together created a incredible but practical solution in response to legislative changes.

This is where the user groups that David initiated and brought collaboration between all the Scottish Councils and Brightly, together to support and learn from one another. Through David and the Client Advocacy Team, we were also able to support other local authorities in replicating or adapting this approach for their own needs.

Thank you for this recognition—it means so much to all of us!

About Brightly Software

Brightly Software, a Siemens company, enables organisations to manage the entire lifecycle of their assets, facilities and infrastructure. As the global leader in intelligent asset management solutions for more than 25 years, Brightly’s sophisticated cloud-based platform is expertly designed to improve capital planning through smarter, data-driven decision making, empower technicians to predict, prioritise and manage preventative maintenance activities, and support organisations to achieve sustainability, compliance and efficiency goals. Combined with award-winning training, legendary support and managed services, more than 12,000 clients worldwide depend on Brightly to optimise their teams, operations and strategic planning initiatives. For more information, visit brightlysoftwarecom.