How Rullion Is Supporting the UK Rail Workforce Through Innovation and Events

Rullion joins Rail Forum to support rail recruitment

Rullion has joined Rail Forum, strengthening its connection with the UK rail industry at a time when workforce demand, skills availability and project delivery pressures continue to shape the sector. The membership supports closer collaboration with industry partners and reflects a shared commitment to developing a skilled and sustainable rail workforce. James Saoulli, CEO at Rullion, said: “Rail has a major role to play in the UK’s long-term economic growth, and there is clear momentum behind the sector. Significant investment, increasingly complex programmes and growing workforce demand mean organisations will need strong delivery partners and access to specialist skills more than ever. Joining Rail Forum reflects our commitment to staying close to the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry and continuing to support rail organisations with the workforce expertise needed to keep critical programmes moving.” Rail Forum’s role in the UK rail sector Rail Forum is a national rail industry body representing organisations across the full supply chain. It brings together operators, suppliers and partners to collaborate on the issues shaping the sector, from skills and workforce development through to delivery and investment. Supporting industry collaboration and workforce development Joining Rail Forum allows Rullion to be part of the wider industry conversations around skills, workforce planning and project delivery. These challenges are becoming more interconnected, particularly as rail programmes rely on a mix of permanent teams, contingent labour and specialist suppliers operating across different stages of delivery. Strong collaboration between rail recruitment agencies, suppliers, and operators will be essential to support delivery and long-term growth. James Couchman, Rail Director at Rullion, said: “We are pleased to be joining the Rail Forum and welcome the enhanced visibility it provides. We look forward to developing valuable partnerships and exploring collaborative opportunities within the sector.” Rullion’s experience in rail recruitment Rullion has extensive experience delivering workforce solutions across the rail sector, including market-leading MSP and RPO solutions, with strength in rolling stock recruitment alongside rail infrastructure and operational support. Over the past two years, Rullion has delivered more than 1,100 placements, supporting clients to access the specialist skills needed to keep projects moving. Rullion’s experience in rolling stock recruitment continues to support some of the UK’s most complex fleet and maintenance programmes. Expanding access to rail talent across key markets Alongside its core rail recruitment solutions, Rullion continues to invest in initiatives that support long-term workforce development. This includes programmes such as Train to Deploy and early careers, which are designed to build new talent pipelines and address skills shortages across the sector. Rullion also supports international recruitment across key European rail markets, including Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland, helping clients access specialist skills where local availability is constrained. Joining Rail Forum reflects Rullion’s continued focus on supporting the rail sector’s evolving workforce needs. As investment and delivery demands increase, collaboration across the rail industry, workforce partners and wider supply chain will play an important role in building a more resilient and sustainable rail workforce.

Rullion Appointed Stadler Rail RPO Workforce Solutions Partner

Rullion has been appointed as the exclusive RPO hiring partner for Stadler Rail in the UK, deepening a transport and rail recruitment relationship built across one of the sector's most diverse operator portfolios. The partnership now supports hiring across permanent, contract and fixed-term roles as Stadler continues to grow its presence across the UK network. The appointment covers recruitment for a range of skilled technical disciplines across Stadler's UK operations and customer contracts: Systems Technicians Modifications Technicians Warranty Technicians Stadler's UK footprint spans intercity and regional rail, urban metro systems and freight, including Greater Anglia, Wales & Borders, Merseyrail, Tyne & Wear Metro, Glasgow Subway and GB Railfreight's Class 99 fleet. Importantly, Stadler operates as a full-service supplier covering rolling stock manufacture through to in-service transport and rail fleet maintenance, and the RPO partnership is structured to support workforce needs across that entire model. Rullion's recruitment capability spans both mainline rail and urban transport networks. Find out more about our transport recruitment solutions. James Couchman, Rail Director at Rullion, said: "Stadler Rail has a significant and growing presence across the UK rail network, and being chosen as their exclusive RPO partner reflects the trust that leading rail organisations place in us to deliver in complex, safety-critical environments. The focus now is on supporting their long-term success by attracting high-quality transport and rail talent across the disciplines their teams need to maintain fleets and keep vital services running." The move to an exclusive RPO model reflects the confidence Stadler has placed in Rullion's ability to deliver consistently across varied and technically demanding environments. Stadler's spread across intercity, metro and freight means the work demands genuine breadth; each operating environment brings its own technical requirements and candidate profiles. That breadth is what sets Rullion's approach to RPO rail recruitment apart from generalist hiring. Rullion is the UK number one rolling stock recruiter, with more than 1,100 placements made over the last two years. Find out more about our rail recruitment solutions for rolling stock.

Nova Workforce Solutions launches to simplify how external workforces are managed across nuclear, utilities and transport

Rullion and Allegis Global Solutions announce the launch of Nova Workforce Solutions, the result of an alliance between both organisations that introduces a new unified model designed to simplify how critical infrastructure organisations buy, manage and deliver external workforces and outsourced services. Created to address a long-standing gap in the market, Nova Workforce Solutions gives medium-to-large nuclear, utilities and transport organisations a single, consistent way to manage contractors, temporary labour, specialist suppliers and outsourced services. The model is particularly suited to critical infrastructure organisations where complex supply chains, large workforces, specialist skills demand and delivery risk require a more joined-up approach. Many organisations have historically had to choose between providers with strong workforce delivery expertise or those with established outsourced services capability. Nova Workforce Solutions has been designed to remove that compromise through one model, one route and one accountable approach. Its single front-door model routes each requirement to the right solution, helping reduce fragmentation and improve visibility, governance and decision-making across workforce and services spend. The launch comes at a time of significant long-term investment in energy, transport and national infrastructure, with governments and private enterprise committing substantial capital to modernisation, resilience and net zero programmes over the coming decade. With spend, value and efficiency high on the agenda for procurement and business leaders, Nova Workforce Solutions is designed to help organisations unlock up to 20% cost optimisation opportunities across the external workforce. Nova Workforce Solutions is already supporting delivery within a multinational energy business, demonstrating the model in a complex and controlled environment. Commenting on the launch, James Saoulli, CEO of Rullion and Founder of Nova Workforce Solutions, said: “The requirements from an MSP have evolved for critical infrastructure organisations. They realise value through managing the entire extended workforce, including highly specialised contingent workers and services providers under Statement of Work arrangements.   Organisations operating in these environments have historically had to compromise by choosing either deep sector experts, or organisations with the scale, breadth, governance, and data capabilities to deliver a world‑class MSP and services procurement. The reason Nova Workforce Solutions is such a bright idea is because it eliminates the need for compromise and offers organisations within critical infrastructure the best of both worlds.” Simon Bradberry, Vice President for International Markets (EMEA and APAC) at Allegis Global Solutions, added: “The requirements from an MSP have evolved for Critical Infrastructure organisations. They realise value through managing the entire extended workforce, including highly specialised contingent workers and services providers under Statement of Work arrangements. Organisations operating in these environments have historically had to compromise by choosing either deep sector experts, or organisations with the scale, breadth, governance, and data capabilities to deliver a world‑class MSP and services procurement. The reason Nova is such a bright idea is because it eliminates the need for compromise and offers organisations within Critical Infrastructure the best of both worlds.” Nova Workforce Solutions will be showcased at the CWS Summit Europe in London in May 2026, where the alliance will meet buyers and industry leaders responsible for workforce, procurement and business transformation. For more information, visit novaworkforcesolutions.com.