Roy Freeland, president of Perpetuum Ltd., is a member of the newly formed Rail Supply Group Council (RSG) which was created to help U.K. rail suppliers secure new business at home and internationally. The Department for Transport will invest £500,000 in the RSG in order to bring government and industry together to address the challenges and opportunities facing the UK supply chain, which demonstrates the importance of their work in driving the long-term vision of the rail industry.
Freeland is specifically charged with leading the RSG work stream which supports SMEs (small and medium sized businesses) through technologies and innovation. Other work streams will address exports and inward investment, helping UK companies develop, demonstrate and commercialise new technologies, promoting rail as a career choice and raising skill levels across the industry, and developing a future pipeline of work that draws on industry best practices.
“SMEs have potential for innovation out of proportion to their size and can contribute significantly to the worldwide competitiveness of the UK rail industry,” shared Freeland upon accepting this new appointment
Freeland brings an extensive background representing the SME supply chain. He has launched several small businesses, started Meggitt Electronics, ran six high technology business sectors at Spirent Plc, and was CEO at United Industries Plc. He has represented SMEs to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, advised the EU DG Connect on supporting innovative SMEs, and chaired the Technology Strategy Board’s Special Interest Group on Energy Harvesting.
Freeland started Perpetuum in 2004, which supplies wireless condition monitoring for the rail industry. He is a Cambridge graduate engineer and has lived in the U.S., U.K., France, Sweden and Canada.
