The London Borough of Croydon adopted the Confirm asset management system in 2018 as part of a major transformation of its highways and infrastructure services. The introduction of Confirm coincided with a new highway maintenance contract with FM Conway and formed a key pillar of Croydon’s strategy to simplify operations, reduce system fragmentation and improve transparency across services.
Prior to Confirm, Croydon relied on four to five different software platforms, alongside multiple spreadsheets, to manage highways and related assets. This fragmented approach created duplicated effort, data silos and limited visibility between teams. The council’s objective was clear: consolidate assets, inspections, jobs and performance data into a single, trusted system that could support a modern, mobile and data‑driven highways service.
Today, Confirm is used across highways, drainage, parks, trees and woodlands, supporting operational delivery, contractor management, financial reporting and statutory compliance. What began with the Trees and Woodlands team has grown into a multiservice platform underpinning the council’s day‑to‑day infrastructure management.
Operational leadership: Highways and drainage services
Confirm’s success in Croydon is closely linked to the leadership of Rowland Gordon, Highway Operations Manager, and Daisi Osibona, Drainage Engineer, who has over 20 years’ experience at the council. Together, they have championed Confirm as a practical tool for improving operational control, transparency and efficiency across complex and diverse asset portfolios.
Daisi oversees drainage and flood risk management, operating as a specialist function supported by consultants and contractors. Confirm plays a critical role in enabling this relatively small team to manage a high volume of enquiries, inspections and reactive events with confidence.
Reflecting on the impact of the system on day‑to‑day working, Daisi explained:
“It’s much quicker for me now. I can go straight into the enquiry, view the photos, find the asset and decide what action to take almost immediately.”
From a strategic perspective, Rowland and his team sought a system that could scale across departments while remaining flexible enough to meet specialist operational needs. Confirm’s modular design and proven track record across local authority services made it the preferred choice.
As Rowland noted, “We were using four or five different systems before. Bringing everything into one place and having a single source of truth was a major factor in choosing Confirm.”
From fragmented systems to a single source of truth
Before Confirm, Croydon’s highways and drainage teams operated across disconnected systems and spreadsheets, each holding partial views of assets and activity. This made it difficult to track performance consistently, demonstrate compliance or respond quickly to emerging issues.
Confirm fundamentally changed this by consolidating all highway, drainage, parks, tree and playground assets into a single system. For the first time, Croydon had a single source of truth for inspections, works orders, asset condition and contractor activity.
This consolidation has reduced duplication, improved accountability and created a much clearer operational picture across services. Asset data that once existed in isolated spreadsheets is now centrally managed, searchable and auditable, giving teams greater confidence in the information they rely on.
Mobile working and measurable efficiency gains
Mobile capability was one of the most decisive factors in Croydon’s choice of Confirm. At the time of procurement, it was the only solution that fully supported both Apple and Android devices, allowing inspectors and contractors to work flexibly in the field using their preferred hardware.
The impact on productivity has been significant. Since moving from Confirm Enterprise to Confirm Web, Daisi reports a clear improvement in efficiency when dealing with enquiries:
“Where I might have processed five enquiries before, I can now do ten using the web version. It’s much quicker to search, view photos and decide whether to raise a job.”
Inspectors can now access enquiries directly, review linked images, locate assets on maps and raise works orders in a matter of clicks. This has improved responsiveness across services, particularly for drainage and flood‑related issues where timing is critical.
Performance management, KPIs and contractor oversight
Confirm plays a central role in Croydon’s performance management framework. The system is used to track key performance indicators, including task completion times, job accuracy and financial payments through contractor self‑reporting.
For highways maintenance, Confirm records when orders are issued, when works are completed and whether they meet agreed timeframes. This visibility supports effective contract management and helps ensure consistent service standards are maintained. Financial control has also improved, with payment applications captured digitally, reducing disputes and providing clearer audit trails.
Transparency, funding and compliance
Confirm has become an essential tool for Croydon’s statutory reporting and funding compliance, particularly with the Department for Transport (DfT). The council uses data from Confirm to produce transparency reports detailing pothole reports received, repairs completed and response times.
This capability directly supports Croydon’s ability to secure vital funding. For the 2026–2027 period, the council receives £1.4 million in baseline funding, with access to a further £1 million contingent on demonstrating transparency and strong data governance. By publishing Confirm‑backed transparency reports, Croydon has successfully met these requirements and unlocked additional funding to reinvest in the network.
Reactive maintenance, emergency response and risk reduction
In drainage operations, Confirm supports a more proactive and cost‑effective approach to maintenance. Contractors log gully cleansing activity and silt levels directly into the system, allowing the council to optimise cleaning frequencies. Low‑risk assets can be cleansed less frequently, while known hotspots are prioritised.
Confirm also supports emergency response workflows. Weather alerts trigger proactive inspections and cleansing work orders, with all follow‑up actions tracked centrally to ensure nothing is missed.
The system has also strengthened Croydon’s ability to defend insurance and liability claims. Inspection records, photographs and maintenance histories are stored centrally, providing robust evidence when claims arise.
As Rowland highlighted:
“We have a very good inspection regime and Confirm helps us evidence that. Having everything centrally recorded has helped us successfully defend claims.”
Data-driven insight and future opportunities
Dashboards and mapping tools within Confirm help Croydon identify trends and hotspots across the borough. During periods of severe weather, teams use the system to support “find and fix” operations, directing contractors to areas with clusters of defects and capturing before‑and‑after evidence.
Croydon continues to work closely with Brightly Siemens through regular account reviews and is exploring extending Confirm into additional services, adopting managed services, and integrating sensor technology for real‑time drainage monitoring. Through Confirm, the council has built a transparent, resilient and data‑driven foundation for safer roads and more efficient public services.
