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Can small players really have the chance to take a starring role?
The UK’s rail network is undergoing one of the biggest modernisations of its kind in recent times. With such vast investment planned over the next fi ve years, Chris Hargreaves-Heap from Lista UK looks at how small and medium-sized companies are now looking at a more level playing fi eld.
S
mall and medium-sized companies have traditionally been out of the rail limelight, all too often buried deep in the supply chain under top
tier suppliers.
However, the government’s £500,000 investment into the Rail Supply Group initiative to help rail suppliers secure new business shows a real commitment to get SMEs involved in the latest fi ve-year delivery programme. The investment looks to help SMEs domestically but also promotes and helps companies win business overseas.
It is early days, but this is a very exciting time for SMEs. Those SMEs already operating in the rail industry have the opportunity of working in a more open and transparent market and companies like Lista are starting to get the support and guidance to confi dently enter the market and help win business and bring new products to the industry.
Competition in the industry is stiff and anyone looking to enter must be clear on the scale and the level of competition they face. It would be naive to underestimate established businesses already embedded with potential customers where the supply chain is working hard and relationships are long-standing. The service or products a new supplier has to off er have to be demonstrably better and go far beyond what is currently being off ered by incumbents. However, even that is no guarantee that a newcomer to the industry would even be considered, let alone chosen.
It’s not all doom and gloom, and opportunities do exist in this traditionally conservative market. The industry is changing and if you’ve done your research and your product or service has something new to off er which can save time, money and improve effi ciency then it may just be worth the gamble.
W:
www.lista.co.uk FOR MORE INFORMATION
rail technology magazine Aug/Sep 14 | 125
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