It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here we speak to Malcolm Prentice, group chairman of Leicestershire depot maintenance firm MTMS.
Derby winning the GBR bid was a high point of last year and we thought the city was turning a corner, but then things started going wrong at Alstom, followed by bad news from Hitachi and Siemens saying they haven’t got money and are struggling, which means things are looking dark for Derby.
The cancellation of the HS2 project was a further sign that the industry as a whole is in the doldrums and operating under a storm cloud that has not yet broken. If there is a new government in 2024 then they will still have to reduce the revenue to our sector because of previous overspending and what money there is going to be spent on transport infrastructure will go on roads and light railways rather than the major rail links that require the investment we need to catch up with the rest of Europe.
That’s the wider picture. As far as MTMS is concerned, we are fortunate to deal with Tier 1 clients who are primary rail operators and we see a bright future there. In 2024 we will extend our services and offer more support with technical innovations that will help the rail industry on its journey to further decarbonisation and towards becoming more efficient and sustainable.
