The Culture Code: Celebrating Ten Years of The Rail Innovation Group

Ten Years of RIG

Ten years ago, the Rail Innovation Group set out to make it easier for new ideas to find their way into rail. To celebrate the decade, RIG brought members together at Jacob’s office in London Bridge, complete with a great view across the London skyline, to look back on the milestone and talk about what the next ten years might bring.

The view across the London skyline from Jacobs’ office.

The group means a lot to us at One Big Circle and helped us make some of our first industry connections almost seven years ago.

This year’s event, ‘The Culture Code’ invited two of its members to answer the question “how do you hold on to what made you innovative in the first place as you get bigger”. One Big Circle addressed the question with our own story of growing from a start-up, and The Centre for Teams with a focus on people and leadership.

The Culture Code gets underway at RIG’s tenth anniversary event.

Innovation at Scale

Emma Pattison, Client Account Manager at Jacobs, kicked off the session with the view from a large organisation working right across the rail sector – and Emma explained why innovation matters so much to them, and to where the industry is heading.

Digital technology, data, AI and automation are changing what’s possible at a remarkable pace, and Emma was clear that technology is only a part of it. Innovation also depends on the people, culture and collaboration – and on giving new ideas the space to be tested and developed. Looking at the next ten years, she pointed to the opportunities ahead, and why working together across the sector will be key to making the most of them.

Keeping The OBC Spark

Next, our Co-Founder and Director Emily Kent took the room through the OBC story – from a small team in a single room to an established rail technology business of over 100 people across Bristol and Derby. It was an upbeat look back at the milestones along the way, the opportunities that growth has opened up, and how the culture that got us started is still at the heart of what we do.

Emily Kent takes the room through OBC’s growth journey, from our first few employees to the team we are today.

Emily then handed over to three of the team for a conversation about what it’s been like on the inside: Programme Manager Matthew Weatherburn, Senior Finance and Commercial Manager Natalie Lauraine, and Marketing Manager Anna Coates. They talked about the opportunities that come with working at a start-up and seeing it grow first-hand – from taking on responsibility early to working closely with people across the business. They also reflected on how our processes have changed as the team has expanded, and how we make sure people joining today embrace that too.

The OBC team in conversation – Emily Kent, Matthew Weatherburn, Natalie Lauraine and Anna Coates.

All smiles after the OBC team panel at The Culture Code.

Leadership and The People

David Webster and Philip Pozzo di Borgo-Oliver of The Centre for Teams then looked at the leadership side of growth. As businesses get bigger, leaders need to give people the confidence to share ideas, challenge established approaches and try new things – while still providing the structure to deliver consistently. Psychological safety, keeping hold of talent and avoiding becoming risk-averse all came up as key themes.

Stephen Tomkins, Managing Director at Balfour Beatty VINCI on HS2 Major Projects, joined the panel to connect that thinking with the realities of delivering complex infrastructure.

The Centre for Teams presents ‘The Culture Code: Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Innovativeness’, joined by Stephen Tomkins of Balfour Beatty VINCI.

The Next Ten Years

To round off the afternoon, Emily paid tribute to everything RIG has achieved over the past decade, before turning to what comes next.

Around the talks, there was plenty of time to catch up over coffee and biscuits, and the conversations carried on afterwards at the pub down the road – a fitting way to celebrate a group built on bringing people together.

A big thank you to The Rail Innovation Group for ten years of backing innovators, to Jacobs for hosting us, to The Centre for Teams for sharing the stage, and to everyone who joined us on the day. We’re looking forward to seeing what the next decade brings.