RAIL PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEW |
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Interview
Glenn Clark, Managing Director of RCU Solutions Limited Sam Sherwood-Hale spoke to Glenn Clark, Managing Director of RCU Solutions Limited about founding a startup, getting accredited to the rail industry standard and what the future will hold RCU Solutions Ltd offer a fresh approach to the rail, construction and utilities sectors, led by Nick Carroll (Operations Director) and Glenn Clark (Managing Director) RCU deliver projects on budget, on programme and without compromising on quality or safety. RCU work with a diverse supply chain to deliver multi-disciplinary projects across a variety of industries. Whatever the scale of any project, RCU will provide the right solutions using their expertise in the civils, E&P and telecoms disciplines. You founded RCU Solutions Limited in 2008, how do you feel the industry has changed in that time? The world is forever changing and with that so does our industry. Whether it be new technology, new incentives to help improve the planet, new ways of working with PACE and Project Speed roll outs gives us a lot to keep us on our toes and ensure that we are adapting with it all. When you look back on that first day that RCU started operations, how do you feel the company has changed? The business started with just Nick Carroll and myself having a few good ideas and taking on the challenge. We started off working from home and have since had to move twice due to outgrowing the office space. We now have a team of 78 staff (and counting) who help us delivery day in, day out for our clients. What was the inspiration behind starting RCU Solutions? Being better and offering what a client wants and needs. Nick and myself used to be client side so understood the struggles of using a poor supply chain and that’s where it all stemmed from. RCU are a multi disciplined company working across three different sectors; Rail, Construction, Utilities and having three core work streams; civils, electrical and telecoms. The name and
Glenn Clark
brand is becoming a recognised name in the industry and a chosen partner for its clients. Last year you received a major rail contract to carry out a lot of the civils work for Phase 3 of the Victoria re-signalling programme. Do you intend to bid for more of these larger projects and how did you get the company into a position where they could deliver this level of work? Yes of course, we now need to keep up the momentum. One of the struggles of a new start up is that you have no evidence or back up to what you are offering / selling to the clients. We have been building up the photos, case studies, testimonials to showcase our great works and to back up our offerings. What more can you tell us about the project? Work on this phase of the project is now underway and involves replacement of
all signalling equipment in the Clapham and Balham areas, and lines into London Victoria as well as relocation of signalling control for the area from Clapham to the state-of-the-art Three Bridges Rail Operating Centre (TBROC). Other work involves upgrade of track at key junctions surrounding Clapham and Balham with new, more reliable equipment. A new and improved track layout will be installed between Clapham and Victoria stations, improving line speeds and reliability. Our core work scope is delivering the lineside civils package of works for the project: • Gap analysis of existing available information. • 5x cable route work packages (packages 1-5). • 4x level ground loc bases (CJ105, CJ116, CJ121). • 5x minor retaining wall loc bases (CJ103, CJ108, CJ112, CJ118, CJ120). Rail Professional
