Surbon Consulting Is a Leading Transport Consultancy Founded by Rachel Hughes, FCILT.
Rachel Hughes Fellow of Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (FCILT) founded Surbon Consulting in 2013 in the UK, expanding to open a Dubai office in 2017. She helps transport operators win major bids and enter new markets across the UK and the Middle East. Her main areas of focus are:
- Bid wins and procurement strategy, including bid and contract management
- Sustainability and decarbonisation, from carbon footprinting to electric bus adoption
- Social value that scores in procurement evaluations, not just ticks boxes
- UK and Middle East market entry
To date, she has worked on over 40 large-scale transport bids, helping clients win over £2 billion in contracts, including the Elizabeth line, Manchester bus franchises, Wales and Borders and the Caledonian Sleeper. Her work spans rail, metro, bus, ferry, cycle hire, electric scooters and autonomous vehicles. Clients have included public transport operators such as Go-Ahead, Stagecoach and Serco, and infrastructure and government bodies such as Network Rail. Industry firsts include leading the UK's original rail carbon footprint, which helped inform the sector's 2050 targets. For more please YouTube.
Rachel is a lead trainer for UITP, the worldwide public transport association, and has trained public transport professionals in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Singapore. Most recently, she helped deliver the London module of the UITP Diploma Programme for Managers in Public Transport in September 2026.
Speaking Expertise
Rachel speaks and moderates regularly at major transport events across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from UITP's global summit and regional MENA conferences to Clean Buses UK and Euro Bus Expo (16 to date). She is known for keeping panels practical, insightful and on time. Recent events include:
- Moderator, Clean Buses UK, London, October 2026
- Moderator, UITP MENA Bus Workshop, Amman, September 2026
- Moderator, Clean Buses Europe, Amsterdam, May 2026
- Speaker, UITP MENA Conference, Kuwait, November 2025
- Speaker, Gautrain staff webinar South Africa, October 2025
- Moderator, UITP Summit, Hamburg, June 2025
Giving Back
She regularly offers pro bono advice to the third sector. More recently, she has interviewed UAE Oxbridge applicants ahead of their interviews and acts as a mentor through CILT mentorship scheme.
Beyond Consulting: Passions & Personal Milestones
In her spare time, Rachel is an avid sportswoman. She gained three Blues at Oxford for cycling and was named Oxford University Sportswoman of the Year in 2007.
With her mother, as Team MAD, she has raised over £62,500 for Maggie's Centre Glasgow, which supports people living with cancer and their families. In 2017 they became the first two-person relay team to swim the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland, battling the cold, strong tides and the odd jellyfish, and swam the English Channel (21 miles) the same summer. They have since swum round Jersey (48 miles) and from Jersey to France (14 miles).
In September 2026 they completed the Enduroman Arch to Arc: an 80-mile run from London to Dover, a relay swim across the English Channel and a 181-mile cycle to Paris, in 67 hours 10 minutes. They were the first two-person female non-wetsuit relay and the first mother and daughter team to complete it.
From Oxford University to founding a transport consultancy firm with offices in London and Dubai, Rachel has a wealth of varied experience in the transport industry.
Jun 2013 - Current: Director | Surbon Consulting, UK (Business Development & Sustainability Support)
- Worked on over 40 large-scale transport bids (metro, rail, ferry, cycle hire, electric scooter and autonomous vehicles)
- Lead on commercial, customer experience and sustainability initiatives to deliver results.
- Worked on 9 mobilisations covering heavy rail and bus and coach in UK and metro and tram in the Middle East.
- Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport
- Written 2 e-books on how to improve transport bidding process
Mar 2011 - Jun 2013: Consultant | ADAS (Sustainability Consultancy)
- Led and won bids for government Department for Climate Change (DECC) and for private sector clients.
- Co-author of the British Standards Institute (BSI) standard for carbon footprinting cities (PAS 2070).
- Managed and increased the profitability of multiple projects for Fast moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) clients.
Oct 2009 - Feb 2011: Consultant | Best Foot Forward (Sustainability Consultancy) now part of Anthesis Group
- Lead researcher on Rail Standards and Safety Board's (RSSB) first ever carbon footprint of the UK railway industry. Engaged with both Train Operating Companies (TOCs), Freight Operating Companies (FOCs) and Network Rail to collect data and present findings.
- Developed carbon footprints for public and private sector clients to support their sustainability strategies.
2008 - 2009: MSc Carbon Management | Edinburgh Business School, Edinburgh University
- MSc Carbon Management
- Inaugural course of its kind in the UK
- Course covered business, economics and science of carbon management.
Sep 2007 - Aug 2008: Transport Engineer | WSP Global
- Graduate Transport Engineer working on transport planning applications and projects for housing and transport in the south east of UK.
- Developed transport carbon footprint model engaging across the UK business to obtain input from team members.
2007 - 2008: BA (Hons) Geography | University of Oxford
- Awarded a Mary Allen Scholarship for getting a 1st in Mods (First year exams).
- Awarded Oxford University Sportswoman of the Year for achievements in cycling and triathlon
- Received 3 Blues for cycling and Half Blue for triathlon and won 16 British Universities medals for cycling events.