Noel Travers, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Buckland Rail, explains how there is nothing they can’t do when it comes to freight wagons

“We offer every aspect of service that could possibly be needed in the freight wagon market.”

It’s a bold statement by Buckland Rail CEO Noel Travers, but one backed up by the expertise of the companies which form the company – WH Davis, Davis Wagon Services and Yellow Rail.

It’s a year since the creation of Buckland Rail was announced, leveraging the collective strengths of its subsidiaries by fostering closer collaboration to increase its capabilities and service offering to passenger and freight customers. It builds on the three rail businesses’ established relationships and highly complementary portfolios, particularly in the areas of freight wagon maintenance, bogie overhaul, and material supply services.

“In WH Davis, Davis Wagon Services and Yellow Rail you have three individual businesses that operate very well and have got some great opportunities going forward,” said Noel. “By having an all-in offering through Buckland Rail, a one-stop service provider, I believe we can make something much bigger.

“From a Buckland Rail perspective, this is about building an infrastructure to help the businesses operate more effectively, not destroying the value that currently exists but taking away some of the challenges, supporting the businesses centrally, especially with support functions related to procurement, finance, IT and HR. This is about facilitating their growth in their marketplaces and helping them to expand into new markets or new services.”

Davis Wagon Services supplies rail wagon maintenance and repair, WH Davis provides wagon design and manufacture services, and Yellow Rail offers high value and safety critical rail services and innovative niche technologies.

Noel, who was appointed CEO in January, said: “Through the three companies we offer concept design, advising potential customers on the art of what’s possible, through to detailed design, manufacture, through life maintenance, overhaul and general repair, then repurposing and eventually scrapping.

“So there is nothing that needs to be done to a freight wagon that we don’t have the capability to do within the group.”

And despite being relatively new, Noel is very optimistic for Buckland Rail, enthused by the Managing Directors (MDs) of WH Davis, Davis Wagon Services and Yellow Rail: Andy Houghton, John Hall, and Paul Cunningham respectively, who are not only passionate about the individual businesses but the overall potential under the parent company.

“The MDs see the value of thinking and looking at the challenges as a whole and looking at strategy as a group because they all realise the businesses overlap and sometimes butt up against each other in a good way so that there aren’t gaps,” said Noel.

“Sometimes one of the businesses can take the initiative to help one of the other entities. Making sure that everyone’s aware of the opportunities and challenges across the group gives us the best chance to take the action that’s going to minimise the risk and maximise the opportunity.

“What has been particularly pleasing has been the reaction of colleagues at all three companies. No matter whether I’m at Yellow Rail, WH Davis or Davis Wagon Services, there has always been a level of engagement from staff that has been as good as anything I’ve seen anywhere.

“There is a willingness to engage and highlight what’s going well, but conversely look at where improvements can be made. It’s something I’ve always liked to actively encourage and credit to all three MDs for developing a culture whereby management being on the shop floor is welcomed, not feared.”

Looking to the future, Noel told Rail Director that Buckland Rail has three very healthy businesses. He admits WH Davis has had a challenging few years, but Buckland Group’s decision to keep the business afloat when there had been a lack of orders has paid off with recent contracts, including 150 freight wagons, which could rise to 400, from Irish Rail, plus a deal with Celsa Steel UK to support its works in South Wales.

“We also signed a deal with Freightliner and Porterbrook to convert coal hoppers to a brand new design of box wagon that moves the market on significantly,” he explained. “These orders, along with the long-term contract for Irish Rail and some other short-term contracts that we are completing, have returned the business to profitability, allowing us to continue investing in the business and create 20 new roles. The future of the business is now looking very strong and healthy.

“Having grown the business consistently over the past 12 years, Davis Wagon Services is now steady in terms of its revenue stream and profitability. It remains a good reliable business with some exciting opportunities for growth, so we’ll continue to invest to make it efficient and effective.”

And things are just as promising for Yellow Rail. Noel spoke with Rail Director shortly after it was announced the organisation would be relocating to the iconic Derby Litchurch Lane works, home of Alstom’s historic train manufacturing site.

The move will enable Yellow Rail to more than triple its current workshop space dedicated to the overhaul of freight bogies. The long-term lease will also provide ample space for growth, allowing remote field service activities to be brought on to the site, enabling Yellow Rail to create around 25 new roles.

“The move is going to make us rail connected giving us the ability to grow that business significantly,” added Noel. “The factory allows us to bring wagons onto site and undertake all aspects of work required.

“WH Davis can already carry out the more significant repurposing, where you’re making major modifications to a wagon body like taking a coal hopper and shortening it so that it can become an aggregate hopper or taking a coal hopper and converting it into a box wagon. That will always be WH Davis.

“But when you’re doing a life extension or modifications to existing wagons to improve their performance, having the facility in Yellow Rail, which is much more about getting things through the workshop more quickly, gives us the ability to do that more efficiently in another site that doesn’t impact the operations in WH Davis. Our own facility at Derby also provides an excellent platform to serve the passenger overhaul modification markets as well.”

For Noel, the appointment at Buckland Rail has marked a return to familiar territory, having worked in the freight sector in 1994 for Freightliner, spending the best part of five years on the operator side.

“I was responsible for the fleet of wagons and locomotives, doing all the things that are now the responsibility of my customers, such as buying in maintenance services,” he reflected. “The market hasn’t moved on significantly from when I was in it and that’s both good and bad. It means a lot of aspects are very familiar to me and I understand the customer’s challenges.

“There is an opportunity to do things better and to do things differently. Overall, the freight market is one that I’m very comfortable in and it’s nice to be back, but also bringing that passenger experience to bear in growing the business back in that area too.”

Noel will soon be marking his 40^th year in the rail industry, having joined British Rail as a sponsored Engineering Management Trainee in 1988 and training for two years alongside his Mechanical Engineering degree at Loughborough University, later holding engineering and management posts in Chiltern Railways and Intercity West Coast.

He’s gone on to build extensive experience and deep knowledge of all aspects of the railway industry, including infrastructure, rolling stock and the supply chain, having worked for Bombardier Transportation, Unipart Rail, and latterly as Managing Director of the Xrail Group.

“Unlike sometimes in the past when I’ve gone into a business because significant challenges need addressing, in this case the opportunity is to take a good business, make it even better and do so much more” Noel explained.

“Such is the ambition that we are intending to at least double the size of the business in the next three to five years. We have the ability to do that profitably, as we can pick and choose the opportunities that we go after.”

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