Scott Wilson Railways Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
13 December 2005 14:31
Swindon based Scott Wilson Railways, which evolved from the highly regarded British Railways owned 'Mainline' consultancy, celebrated its 10th Anniversary in August. As a Division of the Scott Wilson Consultancy group, Scott Wilson Railways can trace its ancestry back to the renowned Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
"The Railways Division has proved a highly successful one for Scott Wilson," says the Division's CEO Keith Wallace. "In August 1995 Scott Wilson acquired the Swindon and Glasgow based Civil Engineering Design Offices of the former British Railways with 180 staff - following the 1993 Railways Act and subsequent restructuring and privatisation. Before that the group's turnover in rail was approximately £2M. Last year it was well in excess of £35M and since 1995 the division's turnover has trebled." There have been numerous changes since 1995. Originally there were four disciplines, which have grown to more than 20. From the two original offices in Swindon and Glasgow there are now six, with additional offices in Birmingham, Crewe, London and York and a total of approximately 400 staff.
"In 1995 our staff were predominantly civil based but now we have a much wider skill base," says Keith. "In 1995 most of our work was small scale, regional and renewal related. Now more than 80% of our work is on major projects and whilst our core renewal work still provides around 40% of our business, around 40% is now in upgrades and 20% advisory."
The division has seen big changes in the UK rail industry, as Keith explains: "We have witnessed the formation and demise of the Strategic Rail Authority, traded through the administration of our then largest client, Railtrack plc. and been present for the birth of Network Rail. We have survived the rigours of extended arm procurement, alliancing, frameworks and a range of unconventional relationships as the industry has struggled to come to terms with the private sector. We have emerged as a stronger business - stable and confident in our own capability."
Scott Wilson Railways won its first major international project in 1998 and is currently involved with major projects both overseas and in the UK. One of the key projects is the modernisation of the West Coast Mainline, which runs from London to Glasgow and is the largest engineering project of its type in Europe. Other well-known and prestigious UK projects include the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, Heathrow Express, London Victoria Station Upgrade, Thameslink 2000 and Edinburgh Airport Rail Link. Overseas Scott Wilson Railways have been involved with the High Speed Line at Zuid in the Netherlands, the Athens Metro Lines 2 and 3 Extensions in Greece, the Melbourne Metro in Australia and Modernisation of Poznan Rail Node in Poland.
"Since 1995 we have forged a new culture, drawing on strengths of the Group and our British Rail heritage," says Keith. "This has brought considerable praise from clients. We are proud to be a leading provider of multi-disciplinary consultancy services in the UK and we are aiming to further increase our railways profile internationally as well."
For more information on this company:
Scott Wilson - International Multi-disciplinary Railway Consultancy
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