The combination will substantially increase RBD’s community offer which has already seen more than 200 rail organisations sign up to the company’s business support service since June this year. Led by Eli Rees-King, more than 800 Rail Alliance members will transfer over to the RBD Community on 01 January 2022. It is a move that will uniquely position RBD to support the growth of organisations through a dynamic combination of symbiotic services all designed to help organisations ready and position themselves to win more work and to grow in line with their business aspirations.
Alex Burrows, Director of Enterprise and Innovation at the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE), said: "David McLoughlin and his team at RBD have created a new standard for business support in the rail industry. The RBD Community, which is delivered by railway people for railway people, is incredibly effective and will deliver major additional benefits for our members. RBD offers all of the support services provided by Rail Alliance and so much more making this such a compelling and exciting opportunity for everyone concerned.
"Alongside our ongoing support in academia, innovation, business guidance and advice, networking and events, RBD Community can help with financing, pipeline and introductions, market positioning, profile enhancement and recruitment services. Our members will have access to every professional service they need all in one place. We are delighted to hand the baton over to RBD and would like to thank our members for their proactive engagement since we ourselves acquired Rail Alliance in 2019."
David McLoughlin, Rail Business Daily’s CEO, said: "Our portfolio development team has long regarded Rail Alliance as a perfect match for our business. This fantastic deal comes at a perfect time for us and the RBD community as we support our customers in capitalising on heightened UK rail market opportunities, including the industry’s transition to Great Britain’s Railways.
"The transaction closed today [14 December 2021] with members transferring over to the RBD Community on 01 January 2022. We have written to all of the members to explain the changes and the fantastic opportunities that this agreement will bring.
"Rail Alliance is handing over the relationship with the membership to us in very good shape having supported organisations really well over the last three years. We will continue to work very closely with the team at the University of Birmingham helping ambitious rail organisations to achieve their business objectives.
"Our dynamic team provides additional capacity and capabilities to support organisations that want to win more work and expand. We combine strong expertise with specialist insight, helping to transform businesses by supporting them to adapt and meet their customers’ ever-changing requirements.
"We are already a trusted partner to hundreds of companies, offering a range of services designed to support long-term success. As well as expert advisors in a range of key business growth areas - from business development and investment to online and offline marketing and recruitment services, we are also the UK rail’s biggest and most powerful rail online/offline media and publishing business. We combine experienced professionals with business owners and those responsible for driving growth. Our rail profile enhancement capabilities really are second to none.
"We’re proud to be part of the fabric of rail business life with a great many fantastic clients. Our new relationship with former Rail Alliance members will add so much more value to so many organisations and we look forward to forging close working relationships over the coming weeks and months. Whether they are looking for support to take their business to the next level, advice on taking a great idea to market or support in getting their name out there, we can help the to unlock the true potential of any rail business. We now look forward to working with the former Rail Alliance membership."
Further announcements and updates will be made in due course.
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 6,500 international students from over 150 countries.
BCRRE is Europe’s largest academic-based group delivering railway science and education. With over 160 academics, researchers and professional support staff, BCRRE provides world-class research and thought leadership within railways, and offers an expanding portfolio of high-quality education programmes, including Rail and Rail Systems Level 6 and 7 degree apprenticeships. In 2018 BCRRE became lead partner in the £92m UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) and in 2019, it absorbed the activities of the Rail Alliance into its offering, increasing its breadth of support for innovation and growth in the rail industry. Contact BCRRE.
About Rail Business Daily
Five symbiotic business divisions:
- RBD Advisory (pipeline and introduction, work winning, business growth, commercialisation and product to market) Our advisory colleagues help our clients to commercial success using unrivalled rail industry knowledge, insight and access.
- RBD Marketing Services (corporate positioning, content, design, web, social media, photography, videography and animations) We help rail companies to acquire new business and drive profitable relationships through our full-service marketing solutions including branding, web design, print design, advertising, strategy, content development and more. We help to tell compelling stories through words and pictures.
- RBD Media (online and offline profile enhancement services - the biggest and most powerful media business in UK rail) - Rail Business Daily daily newsletter - 50,000 readers (influencers, decision-makers, Tier 1s and supply chain)
- Rail Insider weekly newsletter - 45,000 subscribers (influencers, decision-makers, Tier 1s and supply chain)
- Rail Director monthly magazine - 17,000 online and offline readers/subscribers (influencers, decision-makers, Tier 1s and supply chain)
- Inside Track bi-monthly magazine - 24,000 online and offline readers and subscribers (influencers, decisionmakers, Tier 1s and supply chain)
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RBD Community (a community designed to share intelligence and connect organisations with people they want to work with through free events and online communications) The RBD Community is a rail business gateway to growth. Created by Rail Business People, for Rail Business People, the RBD Community offers an unrivalled marketing and sales business resource designed to help your business grow. It is the go-to rail business platform for making high quality connections, raising business profiles, and discovering new opportunities to win business. With a membership that spans the breadth and depth of the UK rail supply chain, and inclusive of those businesses that are new to the sector in addition to those established in rail, the RBD Community is a vibrant and proactive network for helping organisations do more business in rail.
- RBD Stride and RBD Rail Recruiter (white and blue collar online and offline recruitment) Our relationship with industry leading recruitment company, Stride Resourcing, is unique in rail industry recruitment. Our combined contacts and data includes more than 300,000 potential candidates which, linked to Stride Resourcing’s phenomenal experience and expertise in searching and selecting the best candidates, and Rail Business Daily’s profiling capability, makes us the ideal recruitment partner. With a team of dedicated, specialist consultants, some of whom have formerly worked within the industry, you can trust Stride to provide an ethical and consultative, full scope recruitment service that will exceed your expectations.
Rail Recruiter Rail Recruiter provides full recruitment services for employers in the rail industry. Candidates can search thousands of rail jobs online, finding the perfect fit for them. In 2022, Rail Recruiter will become the UK’s number one online platform in rail recruitment.
