Rachel Hughes, Director, Surbon Consulting, FCILT
Rachel founded Surbon Consulting in 2013 in the UK expanding to open a Dubai office in 2017. Her two main areas of focus are:
- Business Development & Procurement Support (including Bid & Contract Management)
- Sustainability (including Social Value)
To date, she has worked on over 30 large-scale transport bids covering a number of different modes: rail, metro, bus, ferry, cycle hire, electric scooters and autonomous vehicles. Clients have included public transport operators such as Go-Ahead, Stagecoach and Serco as well as government and infrastructure operators such as Network Rail.
Giving Back
She regularly offers pro bono advice to the third sector and helped Sustrans win the Quietways bid to Transport for London in 2014. More recently, she helped support UAE Oxbridge applicants by interviewing them ahead of Oxbridge interviews and acts as a mentee.
Speaking Expertise
She is a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (FCILT) and is a regular speaker at transport events.
- Moderator, UITP MENA, Oman, July 2024
- Panelist, Construct Africa Webinar, June 2024
- Speaker, Be the Business Advice for Small Medium Enterprises, April 2024
- Moderator, UITP MENA, Dubai, Feb 2024
- Speaker and Moderator, Global Electric Bus Conference, Dubai, Feb 2023
- Speaker, UITP MENA Dubai Feb 2022
Sport
In her spare time, Rachel is an avid sportswoman. She gained 3 Blues at Oxford for cycling and won the Oxford University Sportswoman of the Year in 2007.
More recently, she has raised over £37,000 ($47,000) for Maggie's Centre, Glasgow by swimming the North Channel with her mother. They became the first ever two-person relay team to swim between Northern Ireland and Scotland, along the way battling the cold, strong tides and the odd jellyfish! Since 2017, Team MAD has completed the English Channel (21 miles), round Jersey (48 miles) and Jersey to France swim (14 miles).
Timeline
From Oxford University to founding a 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 30 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 6 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.