10 minute read
The launch of the Exports Leadership Group
Munir Patel, Andrew Went and Neil Walker discuss a new group bringing rail suppliers together to promote exports worldwide
Munir Patel, Andrew Went and Neil Walker
One of the commitments of the government’s Rail Sector Deal was to double exports by 2025. With that in mind, and at a time when the UK is seeking to negotiate new trade deals around the world, suppliers’ body the Railway Industry Association (RIA) has launched a new Exports Leadership Group (RELG).
The group brings together senior figures with extensive exporting experience from within RIA’s membership to work with the RIA Exports and Trade Policy teams, offering best practice, direction, advice and support.
Rail Director spoke with the new group’s Chair Munir Patel, CEO of Xrail Group Limited; Vice Chair Andrew Went, UKIMEA and Global High Speed Rail Leader for Arup; and RIA’s Exports Director Neil Walker to learn more about their exports activities and their aims for RELG.
Munir explained that the current overseas activities of Xrail included two major projects – firstly on Saudi Arabia’s Haramain high-speed railway where they are providing corrective and preventative maintenance on the signalling system and looking after 49 technical buildings in a seven plus five-year contract. The other is also for maintenance, providing 24/7 cover on the Madrid-Levante high-speed network in Spain.
A matter of patience Winning work in the Middle East was a lengthy process requiring patience, according to Munir. Xrail started by exhibiting in the Great Britain pavilion at the Middle East Rail trade show. “Being at the shows gave us a base to see what was actually happening and meet more people as well as giving us exposure,” he said.
“By doing those trade shows continuously we were eventually able to win contracts because people knew we existed, but it is not something that happens overnight.”
Starting with a small project in Dubai, Xrail next won a project on the Riyadh Metro before gaining the current large contract with Siemens.
Munir is a strong supporter of the GB pavilions, describing them as particularly valuable to companies that are new to the market and don’t have useful contacts, as well as an effective way to connect with other British exporters.
“RIA and its support team take care of all the bookings and logistical issues behind the scenes so it’s easy to just turn up,” he said. “Then you get a strong support network from the Department for International Trade (DIT) under the GREAT brand, and usually a visiting UK Minister, who attracts local and regional officials who then visit your stand, so it has a pull effect as well.”
Arup is a more familiar name and RELG’s Vice Chair Andrew Went outlined that they have some 16,000 staff working in most of the global main centres of rail. Much of their current activity is to do with sustainable transport systems, from early-stage planning, design and economics through to design, systems, rolling stock and integration.
“Although we have work in more than 140 countries, the UK is our largest market and a lot of the work we do is done from our UK base, with works supported by resources in local offices,” he said.
Further challenges The two very different companies clearly face different challenges. Munir told us how they cope as an SME: “Things like mobilisation and resources can be challenging for us, as well as planning the investment to export. We are very lean and work to keep costs down to make money stretch effectively, and then we establish relationships with local partners to help us with mobilisation.”
A specific issue in countries without an established rail sector, like Saudi Arabia, is the need to find or upskill specialists, like signal engineers.
Arup’s overseas bases bring different problems, with the need for business registration and tax and employment liabilities where they have established offices. But for areas and countries where they don’t have bases, they face similar challenges in terms of finding local partners, according to Andrew.
“There is a lot of work in establishing and managing relationships with local organisations. But they help us work though issues like laws, regulations and licensing of engineers,” he explained. “We also need to consider how we take over the skills and expertise from within our own organisation, or even our SME partners.”
Andrew explains how companies like Arup can use support organisations to develop relationships overseas.
“We have found we can reach out through the DIT and organisations like RIA – they get to know about us, understand our capability and our credibility. That helps getting those early conversations moving and then we’ve seen organisations large and small coming back and seeking help, and that’s where we get engaged.”
Exports under the microscope One issue is that consultancy work such as Arup’s is sometimes not valued as an export, even though it is a massive contributor to UK PLC.
Andrew feels the answer is sharing knowledge and experience. “There is so much happening in the rail environment and the UK is focused on a lot of exciting areas. That knowledge, that understanding, is a great thing to share with our global colleagues and clients,” he continued.
“It’s not just consultancies, it’s contractors and suppliers as well.
“That shared knowledge becomes an enticement which the UK can offer to open up opportunities overseas.”
This links nicely into the new Exports Leadership group. Munir says it is important to get all the Tier Ones and SMEs together to see what their interests are and what companies have to offer.
“The first aim is to see where we can have joined up thinking by UK PLC on the offering to the international market, and I would like to see the Leadership Group enable that with the wider RIA membership,” he said.
“If we have that offer not just as individuals but as a collective, we are well placed to meet the needs of major project opportunities.”
Looking for opportunities Andrew agrees and feels it is a two-way conversation. As well as looking at what the UK has to offer, he believes that the group can help in understanding potential opportunities in other regions.
“From meeting with other organisations through RIA’s work we can say ok that is happening over here, how does that come into the UK, how can we really wrap our arms round that and provide support?” he added.
“The other issue is helping to shape ourselves and react to market changes, which can happen quite quickly.”
A further area of activity is in assisting RIA members and other rail suppliers that do not currently export but would like to do so. Andrew feels the larger companies can help: “Companies like Arup and other large consultancies have access to a wider global footprint but in reality cannot do everything.
“If we understand the capability, availability and unique things that the SMEs can offer, we can help and support them, bring them in.”
Munir agrees that the Leadership Group should be of great value through the combined experience of its members, helping companies that might be struggling to start out.
Looking to future opportunities for the sector, Andrew says Arup is most focused on sustainable transport.
“There is a big push around the world looking for efficient and clean transport systems, which rail sits firmly and squarely in,” he explained.
“The UK is doing some really exciting work in this field, the sort of things we saw at COP26, and it is of huge interest to the global rail market.”
There are a number of key areas that present opportunities for the future according to Andrew, not least the post-pandemic recovery – how you get people back onto the rail network, meeting the demands for an increased safety factor. Decarbonisation is a major subject, with the whole approach to net zero CO2.
“The message from COP26 is that you actually have to start making change, not just say you have to start. There is a big opportunity for us to share our expertise,” he said.
Resilience of assets is another big issue, according to Andrew, while a further consideration is how you make assets last longer. Modal shift and dealing with different forms of freight are also key topics but the big one is how do you get people out of their cars? “It’s the endto-end journey,” he said.
“From the start to wherever you are going – what is that journey and how do you do it in a green way? There is huge interest in these areas and opportunities will continue to grow.”
From trains to trams Outlining some of the key geographical markets, Munir agrees there are strong opportunities.
“Now that they’ve seen the benefits of having rail in the country, Saudi Arabia is spending billions of pounds,” he said. “They’ve built highspeed trains but now need the metros and trams in the future plans for cities.
“And we’re also finding a lot of renewals works going on in Europe, so Spain, Portugal and Turkey are important for us, not forgetting Southeast Asia where Malaysia and Taiwan have huge schemes lined up as well” he added.
“Globally the opportunities for British companies to be out there is huge. And there are projects being earmarked across the world, billions of pounds are being allocated for railway infrastructure projects. We just need to look at those opportunities.”
The effects of Brexit A topical question is what effect Brexit has had on exporters and how that affects future opportunities. Munir has not encountered too many problems, in fact Xrail successfully started the Madrid-Levante contract on the night of Brexit (1 January 2021).
“While the rules have changed a little bit in terms of what you can do, we managed to procure staff and mobilise so as a service provider it hasn’t presented too many obstacles. There have been some legal issues, such as establishing a business in a country, and from my role as a London ‘Export Champion’ I know that product suppliers have run into issues around warehousing, tariffs and taxes,” he said.
Andrew feels that the challenges should help focus on which opportunities are worth pursuing.
He said Western Europe has a wellestablished rail capability, so exporters would need to have a specific product or expertise that is in demand. Other parts such as the Baltic and Nordic regions may have wider potential. But there are some areas where UK expertise is valued. “What we do in the UK in terms of our
approach to development and design, concept thinking and implementation are areas where they realise they haven’t got sufficient resource, and they want to bring in that expertise,” he explained.
“We also have considerable experience in asset management, developed over the past 25 years since the end of British Rail, that can provide immense value across Europe,” said Andrew.
“Fields such as major station redevelopment and regeneration are also UK strengths so the key is understanding what Europe can do itself and where we can add value. Although Europe has a lot of people, if we’re cost effective, our experience will take us across boundaries,” Andrew concluded.
A wealth of experience The final summing up was left to RIA’s Exports Director Neil Walker: “From RIA’s point of view, we feel really privileged that we’ve got Munir and Andrew in the group with other individuals who have years of experience in exporting, and they’re bringing this experience to provide direction to RIA to help us to work together.
“The group is about complementing other existing organisations such as the Department for Transport and DIT, so it’s about working with them as well. As part of the global economy opening up again, rail is vibrant around the world as governments look to build back better and build back greener. And obviously we want them to build back rail, so it’s a case of collectively working together and having that experience behind us is paramount to that.”
