Rail Innovator — Resonate Group

Innovator in a traditional industry

The city of Derby has a well-documented rail heritage stretching back two hundred years. It was one of the first great railway towns, with engines and carriages being built here from the earliest days of the 19th century.

Derby is now home to Europe’s largest and most diverse cluster of rail engineering companies, including Alstom, Porterbrook, Railcare and Resonate. It's estimated there are 11,000 rail-related jobs in the region and this is likely to grow following the announcement that Derby is going to be the home of the national headquarters of Great British Railways, a new body being set up to reform Britain's rail network.

At the heart of the digital revolution

Within this very traditional sector, a digital revolution is now happening, driven by the Government's Digital Railway Initiative. This aims to transform the rail network for passengers, business and freight operators by deploying modern signalling and train control technology to increase capacity, reduce delays, enhance safety and drive down costs. It's good news for innovative companies like Resonate, which is finding itself well-placed to support this agenda.

Resonate Group has over 50 years of industry experience and used to be part of British Rail. Previously called DeltaRail, it became Resonate in 2016 to reflect the new age of connected and intelligent transport. Its HQ is in Derby, with other offices in London and Milton Keynes.

The firm has combined its experience of signalling control, operations management and logistics, with new expertise in agile development methods, data gathering, advanced algorithms and BI reporting, so that it has the tools to deliver 21st century traffic management.

Resonate believes the key to digital transformation is being agile enough to change direction as new requirements and opportunities emerge. So instead of dead-end development or closed systems with slow, costly, upgrade paths, Resonate uses open architecture, which is designed to be receptive to future developments, as yet unseen.

Since 2007, the business has been led by CEO Anna Ince, who came from a series of senior roles in the utilities sector. Anna is also Vice-Chair of the Rail Supply Group — a partnership between the UK government and industry to deliver shared objectives — and a Non-Executive Director of the Railway Safety and Standards Board and the national Rail Forum. In the 2022 New Year's Honours list, Anna was awarded an MBE for ‘Services to the Railway Industry’. 

Resonate's overview video