Recently updated - 21/01/2026
Brooke York only found out afterwards that she had been the CCTV technical specialist who processed the 5,000,000th metre of sewer in Lanes Group’s national drainage data processing centre.
She immediately thought it was a great achievement – not for herself, but for the team.
“I was pleased to think I’d helped reach the milestone,” she explains.
“Then, I thought it’s a fantastic achievement for what’s quite a small team, though we’re getting bigger all the time, because of our success and the growth of Lanes Group as a business.
“Every one of us contributed to reaching the target, so we can all take a share of the credit. Now we’re pushing on to the next milestone. There are going to be many more!”
National centre – extraordinary success
The national centre, based at Lanes Group’s offices in Eccles, Greater Manchester, opened in January 2020. The amazing milestone is equivalent to flying from Manchester to Paris and back four times – with 200km to spare.
It reflects the extraordinary success of the CCTV processing centre, which has grown continuously over the last five years, a process that shows no sign of stopping.
Creating the final CCTV drainage reports centrally delivers major advantages for Lanes Group’s customers. They include a faster, more sustainable service, and the ability to respond more flexibly to any project - from the smallest to the largest and most complex development programmes in the UK.
It also reflects the many high-quality jobs and careers, backed by recognised qualifications, that Lanes Group has created as it has also grown rapidly to become one of the UK’s largest drainage and water utilities service provider.
Ian Clapham, Area Development Manager at Lanes Group, said:
“Securing projects like the one at Oldham School shows how our sales and technical teams can work together to provide a seamless service.
“The CCTV processing centre gives clients faster and more accurate reporting. For the Group, it means we can scale efficiently and maintain the highest standards across every project.”
From shop assistant to qualified specialist and team leader
The survey that broke through the five million metre barrier was carried out at a secondary school in the borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, by CCTV drainage survey operative Bekithemba Mlilo.
Brooke, recentely promoted to Team Leader, processed data for 772.02 metres of sewer, uploaded directly from site by Bekithemba from the school via the cloud. By the time she had finished, the CCTV centre had processed 5,000,033.71 metres of pipe.
Brooke had been a shop assistant before a friend suggested she apply for a job at the CCTV centre, aged 19, in 2023.
She is now a qualified CCTV technical specialist, holding both OS19X and OS21X certifications.
Brooke is one of the youngest CCTV data specialists in the UK qualified to these standards, alongside another colleague in the team.
A real sense of achievement
She says: “It was a completely different job. There were a million things to learn, with something new to take on board every day. But I love the job, and the team is great. We all support each other.
“I was a bit shy at first. I think it took me a month to pick up the phone and talk to a CCTV operative in the field. But now I really like that part of the job, talking to colleagues and customers, and getting stuck in to doing the best possible job. I get a real sense of achievement.”
In her time at Lanes Group, so far, Brooke has:
• Completed more than 2,881 processing projects, from single drain runs to very large complex drainage networks.
• Processed data for 34,572 individual sections of drains and sewers.
• Compiled reports that include analysis on 523,431 metres of pipework.
More milestones to come
Chris Wilde, Head of Group CCTV, said:
“Brooke’s career at Lanes Group has been an amazing journey. She’s playing a full part in developing the team by mentoring new colleagues and building relationships with operational teams across the country. I couldn’t be prouder of her achievements.”
Brooke is now looking forward to passing more milestones – the 6,000,000th metre is already fast approaching due to ongoing expansion. She aims to be there to celebrate them, whether she reaches them first, or one of her colleagues.
Find out more
Explore jobs now available at Lanes Group across the UK.
Find out how you can build a fantastic career, backed by excellent training and accredited qualifications: Go to: www.careers.lanesgroup.com.