Press release -
Virgin Trains partners with Virgin StartUp to put start-ups on the track to growth
Virgin Trains, in partnership with Virgin StartUp is looking for the very best disruptive innovators to participate in PlatformX – a business accelerator programme designed to find the next generation of start-up firms who could help transform the future of rail travel.
The two companies are coming together to identify and inspire start-ups with a series of real innovation challenges set by Virgin Trains. Start-ups are invited to submit and pitch their ideas to win a chance of taking part in Platform X. Over five weeks, the successful start-ups will benefit from access to mentoring from Virgin Trains senior management team, external specialists and experts across the Virgin Group who will also help to develop go-to-market strategies. Platform X start-ups will also benefit from office space in London at Virgin StartUp and potential funding for in-market trials.
Over the next three weeks, start-ups are invited to apply via https://platformx.co.uk/ with their ideas of a product or service that will tackle one of four challenges. The first challenge is around ensuring customers have a great end-to-end journey to and from the train and beyond; the second is to help Virgin Trains understand more about their customers and what makes them tick; and the third is to around how innovation can help the company tackle operational challenges when disruption hits. Finally, we want to hear from those innovators with ideas that are already transforming the lives of customers and how they could be applied to the rail industry.
Once applications close on the 28 May entries will be shortlisted and start-ups will be invited to pitch their ideas on the 6 June to secure their place on the programme which will start on 3 July. In August, selected start-ups will be invited to test their ideas with in-market trials which could pave the way for a future partnership with Virgin trains.
Warrick Dent, Safety and Operations Director at Virgin Trains on the east coast said “As part of the Virgin Group, we are always on the lookout for ways to do things differently. Platform X gives us a great opportunity to invite ideas from technologists and entrepreneurs about how we could transform rail journeys in the future and in return provides start-ups with an opportunity to grow and scale their business. We’re really excited about hearing from the brightest and best innovators about how we can do things differently, and we hope we can help take some of these start-ups with us on a journey that will help make their ideas become reality”.
Speaking about Virgin StartUp’s involvement in the project, Mei Shui, Managing Director said “Virgin has a history of empowering and supporting those looking to create positive disruptive change. The apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree where Virgin StartUp is concerned; we’ve so far supported over 1800 entrepreneurs and from our experience this community is one of the most vibrant in the business world.”
For more information on PlatformX visit https://platformx.co.uk/
Topics
- Business enterprise
Categories
- east coast
About Platform X
The four challenge areas are:
Challenge 1: Improving the “End-to-End” journeys of passengers – Providing solutions that will transform the rail journeys of Virgin Trains customers; improving the travelling experience from start to finish.
Challenge 2: Getting passengers “All On Board” the digital grid – Providing solutions that can help Virgin Trains grow its passenger database, improve online customers experience and increase all aspects of customer engagement;
Challenge 3: Improving the “Behind the Scenes” decision making processes - Including the way Virgin Trains manage disruption and communications with staff, providing solutions that can transform internal processes, drive operational efficiency and improve the customer experience; and
Challenge 4: “Wildcard” entries - From existing solutions that are transforming the customer experience and novel innovations that could be applied to the rail industry.
Entrants will be judged on a number of areas including:
-Quality of concept: how does it address key challenges in the rail industry?
-Commercial potential: how much demand is there for this product or service?
-Impact on Virgin Trains: the impact this could have on solving challenges specific to Virgin Trains and improving its offering to customers
-Adaptability: how quickly would the team be able to integrate their solution into Virgin trains business?
-Current team structure: what experience does the team have which will help them in the delivery of this project.
-Suitability for the programme: what benefits the entrant would get out of participating in the programme and partnering with Virgin Trains?
About Virgin Trains:
Stagecoach and Virgin are working in partnership to operate the East Coast and West Coast inter-city routes under the Virgin Trains brand. Together, they are on track to revolutionise rail travel across the UK.
The combined network connects some of the nation’s most iconic destinations including Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, York and London.
Virgin Trains is committed to delivering a high speed, high frequency service, offering shorter journey times, more comfortable travel and excellent customer service. Customers consistently rate Virgin Trains as one of the top long-distance rail franchise operators in the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) commissioned by industry watchdog, Transport Focus.
On the East Coast route, £140m is being invested to create a more personalised travel experience. We have already invested £21m to completely revamp our existing fleet and customers can now benefit from 42 additional services (22,000 extra seats) per week between Edinburgh and London. 2018 will see the introduction of completely new Azuma trains being built in the UK by Hitachi.
The West Coast route has a proud record of challenging the status quo - from introducing tilting Pendolino trains, to a pioneering automated delay repay scheme and becoming the first franchised rail operator to offer m-Tickets for all ticket types.
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