Alstom Rail Addresses Sustainability With Supplier Event

A supplier engagement event hosted by rail manufacturer Alstom has highlighted the critical role of strategic partnerships in building resilient supply chains.

The Supplier Day and Corporate Social Responsibility Awards brought together more than 200 industry stakeholders, with more than 120 top British and Irish suppliers attending the celebration of collaborative procurement practices.

Rob Whyte, Managing Director UK at Alstom, says: "We are proud that the vast majority of our spend for our UK operations is with British businesses, supporting thousands of jobs and driving economic value across the regions.

"As we look ahead, our focus is on deepening these relationships – working more strategically with our suppliers to improve competitiveness, reduce time to market and deliver greater certainty through models such as long-term agreements. Ultimately, delivering the next generation of sustainable mobility in the UK and beyond depends on a strong, innovative and aligned supply chain.

"By working together, we can unlock shared growth, create lasting social value and ensure the rail sector continues to play a vital role in supporting communities and economic development across the country."

Strategic procurement

Alstom's procurement strategy reveals significant investment in domestic supply chains. The company allocated more than £720m ($965m) over the last year among almost 1,300 British businesses, with 33% of spending during the last 12 months directed to UK-based SMEs.

According to the company, 90% of its spending goes to British suppliers, whilst 80% of its suppliers are based in the UK, with approximately half classified as SMEs.

The ripple effects of this procurement approach extend throughout the economy. Alstom's supply chain activities support nearly 11,000 jobs across the country, whilst UK suppliers have generated around £100m ($134m) in exports to Alstom entities in 37 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Mexico and the US.

CSR awards

The awards ceremony honoured nine SMEs for their contributions across multiple sustainability and social impact categories. Winners were recognised for promoting health and wellbeing, stimulating economic expansion, addressing climate change and advancing equal opportunity.

Kadel Engineering received the Fight Climate Change (SME) award for its commitment to operational carbon reduction.

Paul Rollins, Managing Director at Kadel Engineering, says: "What a great honour for such a small company like Kadel Engineering to be recognised with an award. It was an extremely proud moment for us and lovely to feel appreciated.

"The changes we made to fight climate change may seem small but if everyone made little changes towards this goal, it would make a big difference to the future of our planet. We are proud to be an Alstom supplier and look forward to continuing our CSR journey with them."

The full list of UK and Ireland Supplier CSR Awards 2025 winners includes Turbo Power Systems, Quest Electrical, Telent, Dellner Glass Solutions, Rullion, Olympus Global, OCS Group and HUBER+SUHNER.

Global supply chain resilience

The challenges facing modern procurement teams were previously outlined by Bhavik Pathak, Alstom's Director and Head of Supplier Quality for the Americas, in June in a conversation with Supply Chain Digital. Bhavik explains the complexity of managing globally distributed supplier networks in the rail sector.

"If I talk about our market, the rail market, our supply bases are spread globally," Bhavik explains. "It's not just a matter of getting the part at the lowest price. We need to ultimately reduce the risk for the organisation.

"Let's say we have a crisis situation, how fast can we recover? Because of the geopolitical tensions and a lot going on right now in the global market, prices are fluctuating and then it comes with tariffs and all that."