What is Lab by Transport for Wales?
At the end of our accelerator programmes, start-ups will pitch their product to key-stakeholders and decision makers from Transport for Wales Rail. Successful pitches will be awarded a contract of work to finish the development of their product, to then launch across Transport for Wales Rail.
Our innovation programme is based in our dedicated innovation lab based in Newport. This is a dedicated working space for all start-ups and partners of Lab by Transport for Wales to use as their day-to-day working environment. It is also where all our workshops, training and meetings will take place.
Think you’re a right fit? Apply to take part now.
Our goals
Lab by Transport for Wales has been created, in partnership with Transport for Wales Rail, with following objectives;
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Position Newport as a leading hub of innovation, product design and technology
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Why has it been set up?
Transport for Wales Rail (TfWR) has set out to make rail an attractive industry for tech start-ups. Lab by Transport For Wales will offer a range of opportunities & benefits, along with making entry to the rail industry easier for start-ups.
Our innovation lab will change culture by transforming Newport into a hub of innovation, powering these initiatives and showcasing the tech community within Wales.
TfWR wants to provide the best experience for passengers. TfWR understand how critical it is for large corporates to innovate and adapt. To be reactive and proactive towards changes in consumer behaviour, and to over-deliver to provide exceptional customer experience.
TfWL aims to fill the gaps and to cultivate a culture of innovation across TfWR by seeking out the most creative & ambitious start-ups to showcase their work.
If you have an innovative solution, or idea, we’d love to hear it and see if you can help Transport for Wales Rail.
Our team
Barry Lloyd
Barry is the Head of Customer Experience and Innovation at Transport for Wales. Barry has a wealth of experience in understanding and improving customer experience having worked in customer facing roles he whole career. He has a passion for ensuring customer needs are heard, met and exceeded and sees the Innovation Lab as the next step for improving Customer Experience with technological enhancements.
Michael Davies
Michael Davies is the Insight and Innovation Manager in the Customer Experience team at Transport for Wales Rail. Utilising the latest digital techniques, his role includes the delivery of a comprehensive insight programme, sharing both market and customer insight with the wider business to inform strategic decisions. He will also be overseeing the set-up and successful progression of the TFW Lab. Michael has over 10 years’ experience in using insight to then lead new projects designed to enhance customer experience.
Imran Anwar
Imran is the founder and CEO of Alt Labs, the provider powering TfWL. Imran brings over a decade of innovation experience across the transport and rail sector. He has implemented innovation strategies, software & change management across SME’s to FTSE 1000 institutions, varying across CRM, ERP, MBaaS, SaaS, PaaS, Cloud, Big Data and web development.
Michael Dunn
Michael is the CTO at Alt Labs and brings 11 years of tech industry experience to his role with broad sector knowledge that has been acquired through working initially as a developer, then founding a growing leading software agency that focused on creating digital products for web and mobile. He is a natural problem solver who is able to lead multidisciplinary groups to achieve successful digital transformation.
Charlotte Rogers
Charlotte is the Product & Innovation Manager for Alt Labs. She founded her own water bottle business from university and has experience of undergoing incubation and acceleration programme, as well as product development and ownership. Charlotte now shares her experiences with start-ups through coaching and mentorship.
Josh Dale
Josh is an experienced Innovation Manager having run several accelerator programmes, product development initiatives and innovation labs all over the world. At TfWL, Josh acts as Innovation Lead, planning and delivering the innovation workshops and training sessions over the duration of the accelerator programme. He’s most at home in front of a whiteboard with a pack of post-it-notes, coming up with new ideas and solving challenges.
Adam Foster
Adam is the Head of Marketing & PR at Alt Labs. His expertise has been developed across varying business sizes ranging from start-ups and SME’s to global brands, across the b2b, b2c and Higher Education sectors. Adam has developed marketing & digital marketing strategies, managed their implementation, along with lecturing and coaching students and SME’s across a number of marketing discipline’s.
Katherine Joyce
Katherine is Head of UX/UI Design at Alt Labs, with experience spanning across freelance and consultancy, as well as working in-house across finance, education and government sectors. She leads the UX/UI vision for TfWL offering mentorship and guidance through the programme. She is passionate about creating innovative user experiences and advocates accessible design, regularly reviewing technical books prior to publishing.
Jason Talman
Jason is a Software Developer with specialist experience working across web applications, mobile apps and web services. He enjoys using his problem-solving skills to overcome technical challenges and produce tools to solve real-world problems.
Have an idea?
Along with our team, as part of the TfWL programme, successful applicants will have access to key stakeholders across Transport for Wales and their partners. If you have an innovative idea or product – we’d love to hear from you.