Be heard: Join GBRTT’s Commercial Partnerships Sounding Board

The Sounding Board brings together suppliers from different backgrounds, with representatives from Network Rail and the Department for Transport in the room, to have open and honest conversations about effective public-private sector collaboration.

Feedback from two previous cohorts stressed the importance of promoting positive culture change that helps drive improvements right across the railway.

Twelve senior leaders will be randomly selected to join this latest group – together they will build on work developed with the help of their predecessors, around how we collectively create an environment that gets the best possible value and innovation for the money rail spends.

Last year, GBRTT’s Interim Lead Director spoke of the need to “make whole-railway thinking the new normal and, crucially, to find ways to deploy that thinking in as many areas as possible ahead of Great British Railways”.

Ahead of legislation, GBRTT continues to work with industry leaders to find opportunities to work better across organisational boundaries in ways that help improve rail’s financial sustainability and the customer experience.

Membership of the Sounding Board rotates broadly on a six-monthly basis, and GBRTT will shortly publish a summary of sessions run with the Sounding Board’s second cohort.

How to apply

To express your interest in joining the Board, please read the below criteria and complete the online form by 17:00 on Friday 3 May 2024.

Please note that if you expressed interest in the last round, you will need to re-apply as the criteria has been updated.

The selection process will be run independent of GBRTT, with the only control being to ensure representation from a range of organisation sizes.

The first session will take place in-person in June, with further details to follow.

Criteria

• Twelve places are available, limited to one representative from each organisation. GBRTT welcomes expressions of interest from senior individuals with significant commercial or delivery experiences at organisations of all sizes, particularly SMEs.
• Members should have control over their business / business stream or sit on their organisation’s executive team, and must be able to commit to attending three sessions over the next six months.
• As an inclusive organisation, we welcome businesses led by people from all backgrounds and would encourage members from groups currently underrepresented in the rail industry to consider expressing their interest, including women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and people from the LGBT+ community.