Rail companies of all sizes set up in Derby on 30th September at Rolling Stock Networking at a time when the industry was emerging from the grip of COVID, wrestling with fuel shortages and with rain on the horizon; but there was no disappointment.
Visitors from all sectors of the industry arrived in huge number comfortably breaking the previous record attendance by over 350 people confirming the event as one of the most popular in the industry.
Opened by the Mayor of Derby the show resonated with the optimism characteristic of the rail industry, with people meeting face to face, learning about the products and services on offer and taking time to catch up with colleagues and friends.
The MP for Mid Derbyshire, Pauline Latham opened the RailBusinessDaily conference with a powerful introduction, firmly advocating the place of Derby as the centre of the UK rail Industry and the natural home of the Great British Railway; as if anyone could ever think it could be anywhere else!
The show which is firmly focussed on traction and rolling stock, depot services, equipment and the wider supply base, drew an astonishing total attendance of 1583. RSN hosted companies from industry giants such as Alstom, Stadler and CAF to the entrepreneurs at the SME end of the spectrum, bringing the new ideas and innovative products and services that support and improve the operational railway.
The Conference drew great interest with headline speakers from East West Railway describing the largest rail project short of HS2; which is creating connectivity from Oxford to Cambridge and with CAF captivating the eager crowd with their presentation of the development of their services in the UK.
The Railway Industry Association provided a fresh and stimulating view on the meet the buyer theme providing a great success through both direct organised meetings and drop in sessions, matching many opportunities to capabilities. Rail Forum Midlands members were also in force occupying no less than 58 of the 150 stands.
AEGIS provided technical seminars leading all of those interested in supplying into the industry with a roadmap through the railway standards and approvals systems, whilst providing many enthusiastic students in attendance with great insight for their future careers in rail. The quality of the seminars was outstanding and the intrinsic value they provided was priceless, despite being entirely free to attend like all of the events within the show.
The show guides containing a great coverage of the industry, were complemented with content from Rail Director and Inside Track and flew off the rack in number with over 1400 taken on the day.
The exhibitors offered every conceivable product and service from entire trains to the smallest components. Stadler were inundated with interest on their stand and the volume of visitors meant that time flew by. Smiles were exchanged for many business cards, new relationships were built and business opportunities flowed. Friends were present in physical form. The endless zoom and teams meetings seemed like a distant and impersonal memory, replaced by real and refreshing encounters, enabling the exploration of future business to be pursued as if a great relief had arrived.
The Rolling Stock Networking team have since been overwhelmed with positive feedback extending to over two pages of content on the show web site !! The enthusiasm has carried over into stand bookings for the 2022 show with sales at the time of writing exceeding 50 companies, many of whom having attended as visitors translated quickly into exhibitors.
The secret if ever there was one to the success of Rolling Stock Networking is in the friendly networking atmosphere which has become a trademark of both Rolling Stock Networking and our sister events at Rail Infrastructure Networking.
Unlike many other shows the event is not owned by a media company and is organised by people that really know the railways, working every day in the industry; providing the very maintenance and technical enhancements that the show promotes and also the insurances and contractual risk assessments that provide for trading in a safety conscious industry.
One thing is certain, the team will continue to build on the success of the event with the key mission to provide small companies with the same exposure and profiling opportunities to join in the vibrant and friendly environment that the show offers; normally only affordable to companies of scale. New for 2022 will be a supplier engagement programme, matching unfolding opportunities and market insight with those that can satisfy the demands of the industry with products and services. Unlike similar events this will rationalise the scope of requirements to the capabilities offered by the supply chain.
It’s not long to wait until RSN 2022. Whilst the show is an annual event the benefits to exhibitors are available from the moment of booking as the organisers promote all of the exhibitors constantly throughout the year via the www.rsnevents.co.uk web site, @rollingstocknetworking on linked in and through the event media partner RailBusinessDaily.com. The show will continue to grow in attraction and depth of content, with forward dates of Thursday 7 July 2022, Thursday 6 July 2023 & Thursday 4 July 2024, we remain committed to serving the industry providing value for money exhibiting options with no compromise on content and quality.
To see our feedback from RSN 2021 Click Here. To follow us on Linked In Click Here. See the highlights below. The next event is in Derby on 7th July, 2022.
