Enhancing workplace safety and journey confidence at UCB

Enhancing workplace safety and journey confidence with AI travel insights

Overview

Enhancing workplace safety and journey confidence with AI travel insights

UCB is a global biopharmaceutical leader focused on creating valuable solutions that improve the lives of people living with neurological and autoimmune conditions. In overview:

Client sector: Pharmaceuticals
Company size: 9,000 employees and $7 billion sales approximately.
Location: Slough, Windlesham, UK
Services provided: AI driven travel insights

Since 2015, UCB has partnered with SIRV to deliver security solutions. Following COVID-19 and with the move to its new £1 billion research facilities in Windlesham, UCB sought SIRV’s support in enhancing the workplace experience.

Challenge

UCB wanted to improve the day-to-day workplace experience of their employees and visitors, especially in a winter environment where safety and certainty matter. They also wanted their facilities team to receive intelligence about threats and risks to their UK facilities. Key challenges included:

Fragmented information: Staff checked multiple sources (apps, websites, signage) to understand how external conditions might affect their route home.
Delays in internal communication: Updates about travel disruptions or severe weather were slow or not targeted.
Visitor experience gaps: External guests often lacked visibility on nearby airport links, train reliability, or safe walking routes.
Safety concerns for lone travellers: Particularly during darker months, waiting outside at night presented a risk.

Development

This was not an off-the-shelf deployment. Over two years, SIRV worked closely with UCB through:

Quarterly stakeholder reviews
Iterative refinement of workflows and UI layout
Integration with specific datasets

The result is a highly tuned, enterprise-ready solution being rolled out.

Solution

SIRV deployed their workplace experience solution across:

Reception screen displays showing live local data relevant to visitors and employees
Senior facilities staff, with access to a threat and risk visualisation

The solution aggregates multiple data sources, including public transport, local traffic, private shuttle schedules, severe weather alerts, and power outage data, in a single real-time view.

An intranet module available to all staff across the company is planned.

Impact

Better home commutes

Estimated employees will save 5–10 minutes on average per week by avoiding delays
Staff left with more confidence and less uncertainty, especially during evening departures in winter

Improved visitor experience and reputation

Visitors received clear, up-to-date local travel information at reception, including real-time airport links and local transport
Facilities team received fewer requests and complaints about navigating away from site
Reception team reduced time spent manually checking train times and advising guests

Improved safeguarding, especially for lone and female staff

Reduction in staff waiting alone outdoors after dark
Winter safety significantly improved, fewer employees exposed to cold, isolated conditions
Security team gained visibility over evening and weekend risk exposure

AI: Delivery & Monitoring

AI plays an important role in the solution:

Delivery: Generative AI sped-up prototyping
Ongoing Monitoring: An AI agent continuously analyses external feeds (e.g. weather, incidents, delays), cross-references them with office schedules, and surfaces only the relevant impacts, ensuring noise-free, actionable updates.

A pilot of SIRV’s AI Agent, Cal is planned. The pilot will test Cal’s ability to answer queries relating to workplace travel and SOPs.

Results

Time saved on staff journeys
Anticipated ~5 – 10 minutes per person per week
Reception queries reduced
Fewer ad hoc travel info questions

Client testimonial

“For us, this is more than a facilities project – it’s a step towards a more resilient and intelligent workplace. SIRV helped us move beyond basic reporting into a system that actively supports decision-making. The integration of AI opens up new opportunities, and we’re excited to see how these capabilities can scale across other areas of the business.”

– Les O’Gorman | Director of Facilities | UCB

Why it matters

The workplace experience solution helps UCB deliver a more intelligent, people-first workplace experience, not just for day-to-day efficiency, but for real-world safety and wellbeing. With ambient risk data made visible and personal, the organisation demonstrates: