Neil Atkins

Neil is the Business Development Director and an owner-partner of First Class Partnerships. Neil has responsibility for developing and growing the levels of business for this well respected Consultancy Company. A former railway commercial and business development director and managing director of a major supplier to the railway industry, Neil is one of the most recognized and respected strategic commercial advisors in the Railway industry.
 
Neil was Commercial Director for Gatwick Express and Business Development Director for North West Trains. At Gatwick Express Neil helped manage the company into the private sector whilst restructuring the company into a shadow franchise and playing a lead role in the creation of station access contracts, restructuring the entire customer service operation and rebranding the company.
 
For two years Neil worked as a Director at ATOC where he was responsible for directing all the Railcard schemes plus the London Travelcard scheme on behalf of all the London train operating companies and where he led a major strategic review of the product resulting in a much more positive stance from rail companies to promoting the product.
 
During Neil’s earlier railway career he had been a Marketing Manager for InterCity in Scotland and the Cross Country routes. Neil then moved to York to be the Marketing Manager for the East Coast mainline where he delivered a superb product launch programme for the InterCity 225 programme and route electrification. Neil is largely credited for the introduction of yield management on these InterCity routes when he introduced the first Apex and Super apex fares initially from Scotland to England.

Previous to this Neil had been a management trainee and worked in public affairs.
 
In 1999 Neil took a career break from the railway industry and started up a franchise business in the service sector. This company quickly grew to be the second largest of its type in the Country and employed 30 staff; Neil sold the company in 2005.
 
Returning to the transport industry Neil became Group Commercial Director for Fraser Eagle where he built Fraser Eagles business up to a dominant market share position in the UK Rail Replacement market. In 2007 Neil was made Managing Director of Fraser Eagle Transport Partnerships, a new company that was providing large scale transport to the Local authority and transport sectors. Neil left Fraser Eagle in June 2008 in order to join First Class Partnerships.
 
Whilst employed at First Class Partnerships Neil is also MD of FeONIC Transport Ltd, a venture in which FCP have invested, Neil Atkins represents FCP on the FeONIC Transport Board alongside Bob Clarke and Mike Jones. Neil also works with Assertis in the role of a business development consultant for MyTrainTicket, an independent online retailer of train tickets.