Rail Forum is delighted to announce that its members will now be able to access the support of a dedicated innovation expert, Ian Evley of Innovate UK Business Growth.
The current industry landscape is challenging, but this also presents an opportunity to do things differently. In order to drive better customer experience, required cost efficiencies and deliver on our sustainability credentials, the UK rail industry needs to embrace innovation more than ever before. Innovate UK has a compelling business support offer and with 57% of our membership comprising of SME’s, having a dedicated expert on hand to help our members navigate the innovation support landscape, access funding, and overcome barriers, is a genuine value-add for our members.
Ian Evley, Innovation and Growth Specialist at Innovate UK Business Growth said: “I am delighted to be collaborating with Rail Forum to highlight the opportunities for innovative SMEs within the rail sector, and between us we hope to make a real difference. Through our collaboration we aim to leverage our respective strengths to target existing resources in a more meaningful and purposeful way for the benefit of rail sector engaged businesses nationwide.”
Catherine Appleby, Membership & Engagement Director at Rail Forum said: “We know that our members have diverse capability; they represent an incredible resource for innovating rail operations and performance, however, the barriers for introducing innovation to rail can be difficult to navigate. By working in partnership with Innovate UK and particularly Ian, we are able to provide real support for our members, helping them to develop new products and services and access funding and guidance. When combined with our wider innovation workstream, we are confident that our members will have every opportunity to bring forward innovation.”
This new dedicated innovation support builds on our wider initiatives, activities and strategic partnerships focused on helping members to bring innovation onto the railways. A couple of these to highlight include:
- Rail Forum’s rail supply chain Capability & Innovation brochure featuring case studies from member organisations that can help drive improvements in our industry. Members will be invited to contribute to a 2nd edition of this brochure.
- Rail Forum’s support for the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) as a test bed location for innovation that will help members speed up the development of new products and technologies and bring them to market faster. Circa 100 of our members signed a letter of support for GCRE.
- Joining the European Railway Clusters Initiative (ERCI) presented members with a unique opportunity for our members to submit themselves forward for the ERCI Innovation Awards with three members shortlisted.
- Events with specific innovation focus, including our Annual Conference which features Expo and Demo Zones, as well as planned visits to rail testing and demonstrator sites with members.
Further elements of Rail Forum’s innovation workstream will be introduced over the course of the membership year, including networking events and SME challenges.
Rail Forum looks forward to seeing the positive outcomes for members as a result of this collaborative partnership with Innovate UK.
