growth survey

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ECI Growth Survey 2015

ECI GROWTH SURVEY 2015

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About ECI – Building Successful Businesses

ECI is the leading growth-focussed private equity firm in the UK. We collaborate with management teams, sharing knowledge and experience to build successful businesses. We invest in management buyouts, buyins and acquisition finance deals for growth companies with either a minority or majority equity position. Over the last 30 years we’ve invested in businesses across sectors throughout the UK with a deal size of between £20m to £150m.

Over

£1.6bnof committed capital across 10 consecutive funds focused on the UK market.

17%average turnover growth p.a. in latest fund

Total UK employees across ECI’s portfolio

over 4,700and average headcount growth is circa 10% p.a.

Exited nearly 100 investments since 1990 with a total value of

£3.7 billion

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ForewordBritish politics today centres around a simple, fundamentally important question: how should we engage with the rest of the world? Should we close ourselves off, or remain a society that is open and engaged and thrives as a result? The consensus is being questioned more now than it has been for many decades - by separatists within the UK, and by those who would leave the EU and close our borders. The results of this survey show where fast-growing businesses stand.

With a referendum on Britain’s place in the EU due in the next 12-18 months, it is striking that 91 per cent of those surveyed wish Britain to remain in the EU. That the largest group wish us to stay in irrespective of any renegotiation tells us just how important staying in is to most businesses. This should be encouraging to the majority in the current government who want Britain to remain, as well as showing once again just how high the stakes are for the British economy.

ECI’s research gives us clues as to why business opinion is so overwhelmingly pro-Europe. Exporting businesses see Europe as a key market. Firms facing skills shortages can recruit across the EU. Many foresee negative consequences of ‘Brexit’ for their businesses.

This clarity should be important to voters, particularly as these views come from the entrepreneurs who will drive British growth in the coming years. As in the Scottish referendum last year, the economic consequences of separation must be central to the debate. This Growth Survey provides a clear message from business that no good will come of exit. Many rightly believe serious harm would be done. Now is the right time to express these views.

There is a practical message for business too. The referendum presents a serious business risk. Even if the chance of the UK voting for exit is as low as 20 per cent, this is something every company needs to examine and prepare for.

My experience in Scotland was that when businesses examined the consequences of separation from the UK in detail, the risks multiplied as new issues were discovered. In truth, the public debate in Scotland underplayed the risks. The sooner companies understand the precise effects, the better for shareholders, investors, managers and staff. As that process continues, the numbers foreseeing few consequences from exit will undoubtedly fall.

This survey also provides further evidence that the UK economy is recovering after the 2008 crisis. Firms are finding it easier to access the finance they need to grow, the vast majority have seen their productivity increase, and many are experiencing a tighter labour market. But it also highlights several significant risks.

Businesses that export are the most productive; growing Britain’s exports must be one pillar of a serious productivity plan. So the skills shortages being experienced by most respondents to this survey are a real headache, particularly where IT specialists are concerned.

Most firms facing a lack of skilled workers say they can meet their needs within the UK. But for a substantial minority, workers from overseas are essential. One in five firms is looking to the wider EU single market to recruit staff in shortage areas, one in ten is bringing in specialist staff from the wider world. They are right to do so.

This survey shows that fast growing businesses are as liberal as they have ever been on how open Britain needs to be. To thrive in a highly competitive global economy Britain needs to be engaged in Europe, to win new markets all over the globe, and to welcome the skilled workers we need from wherever they come. There is much work to be done to ensure the majority continue to share that view and business will need to play its part in that too.

Sir Danny AlexanderFormer Chief Secretary to the Treasury

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xxx

Raising finance is getting easier

73%Most respondents (73%) said they expect it to be ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to obtain finance over the coming year. Up from 65% last year.

Cutting red tape is the number one demand from Business to Government

53%When asked which Government measure could best help improve productivity, 53% cited cutting red tape.

Productivity is up amongst growth businesses

86%Nearly 9 in 10 growth businesses have increased productivity in the last three years.

Contents05 Executive Summary

06 Key findings

08 EU/Brexit

10 Skills shortage and productivity

12 Access to finance

13 Exports

14 Case studies

20 Contact details

91%The vast majority (91%) of respondents across all sectors and regions support Britain staying in the EU.

69%of growth companies are likely to seek PE investment over the next 12 months.

xx

x

Should Britain stay in the EU?

46% Yes

45% Yes (with negotiations)

6% No 3% Don’t know

IT and Sales skills in demand

91%Whilst a shortage of skills is widespread, with 91% citing some level of shortage, IT (49%) and Sales & Marketing (48%) stand out as the two top areas most in demand.

The strength of sterling is the number one barrier to growing exports

This survey is also available in digital format at growth-survey.ecipartners.com.

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Executive summaryThe ECI Growth Survey has been helping to highlight the issues facing the UK’s growth companies for six years now.

However long it runs for, one aspect that never fails to delight me each year is the new wave of exciting growth companies we discover that, only 12 months ago, most of us had not even heard of.

This is a great testament to the innovation, risk taking and hard work of entrepreneurs in the UK.

Several of the case studies that accompany this year’s survey highlight the youthful nature of growth businesses and entrepreneurs in the UK.

Bulldog was founded in 2006, GoApe in 2001, Nomad Digital in 2002 and TheJobPost in 2001. This new breed of UK business and entrepreneur is what has been driving the economy out of the economic downturn and creating three million private sector jobs since December 2009.

This survey acts as a celebration of this achievement but also a warning to policy makers about how fragile the foundations of this success can be.

Yes, the financing of growth businesses has improved considerably since the recession. The variety of debt and equity sources for companies has never been so vast. This does create the challenge for owners to know what sources of finance can best help them grow their businesses, and more is being done by the likes of the CBI to help here.

A record 69% of growth companies are likely to seek private equity investment over the next 12 months.

As a private equity investor, it is fantastic to see so many growth companies likely to seek backing from our sector. In the UK today, private equity funds support more than 2,200 companies, with more than £30 billion invested.

These companies employ more than 800,000 people. It is truly a win-win relationship between investors who need returns - millions of UK pensioners benefit from the profits generated - and the companies which receive capital and expert guidance on how to maximise their potential.

However, the future success of UK growth companies is far from guaranteed. There is the threat of a British exit from the European Union, an expected rise in interest rates, faltering economic growth in Europe and China and, as is highlighted very clearly in this survey, a growing shortage of skilled workers.

Everyone who believes in the importance of a vibrant, innovative economy driven forward by exciting growth companies has a duty to promote the values embodied in these businesses and the entrepreneurs that run them.

There is some unease across the world about the capitalist system and, yes, immoral behaviour needs to be highlighted, punished and prevented. However, it is only through the innovation and vibrancy of growth companies that we can improve the welfare of society. It is these businesses that create the jobs which not only pay salaries to put food on the table but also give people a sense of worth.

It is these businesses that create the profits and salaries that pay for the level of state support we all demand.

Finally it is these thriving ventures that bring us new and exciting experiences - GoApe on page 14 is a fine example - which make our everyday lives a little more enjoyable.

So, once again as we did last year we sign off with, “Entrepreneurs, we salute you.”

Charlie JohnstonePartner - ECI Partners

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Overall skills shortage

This increases to 91%, up from 82% in 2014.

100% of Industrial companies have some level of skills shortages with ‘Sales and Marketing’ and ‘Engineering’ skills being the two biggest shortages.

72% of TMT companies are experiencing a shortage of IT skills.

41%2011

Key findingsFrom the 2015 Growth Survey

Sources of funding% likely to choose each funding source.

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

20152011 2012 2013 2014

Ease of access to finance

% expecting it will be ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to access finance.

36%2012

54%2013

Barriers to exporting

4149

57 57

47

16

35

68

19

6975

4241

57

8

40

49

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This increases to 77% in the Industrials sector up from 25% in 2014.

34% say the strength of sterling is a barrier to exports, up from 24% in 2014.

65%2014

73%2015

NA NA

Private equityPublic markets

KeyBank DebtOther private investors

2014 20142015 2015

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Consumer

88%

TMT

95%100%

Industrials

% experiencing skills shortages in each sector

89%

Business services

Financial services

86%

Healthcare

88%

Overall

91%

4942

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Scotland

North West North

East

Midlands

South West

South East

Ldn.

Should Britain stay in the EU?

49

4250

*4% undecided

*11% undecided *5% undecided

*1% undecided

43

22

20

44

4242

46

61

60

6

164

11

6

20

Wales

46

*3% undecided

45

6

Overall and key

% Yes% Yes % No(with negotiations)

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EU/Brexit

Should Britain stay in the EU? (by sector)

Received wisdom has it that where large companies are typically staunchly pro-European Union in their outlook, directors of smaller businesses are much more willing to countenance the idea of an exit from the single market.

Ahead of the referendum on Britain’s membership, our research challenges that assumption - at least on behalf of those fast-growing businesses that represent the lion’s share of job creation.

A mere six per cent of respondents to this year’s Growth Survey support the idea of a ‘Brexit’, and 53 per cent said leaving the EU would actively damage their businesses. Only six per cent thought a departure would be a boost for business.

Common fears cited by individual respondents include the wider impact on the British economy, uncertainty and protracted exit negotiations, and the risks that the supposed benefits of a lighter regulatory environment would fail to materialise.

The importance of the single market to UK trade is also confirmed: 53 per cent expect to grow their sales in continental Europe over the next 12 months, up from 49 per cent last year. True, that is only slightly more than those who picked Asia or North America, at 48 per cent each, but given the turbulence and stagnation in European economies over the last two

Business services IndustrialsHealthcare Financial servicesTMT

10%

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40%

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60%

70%

50

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46

Consumer

40

6

51

45

5

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69% of Industrial companies are looking to grow exports to Continental Europe over the next 12 months.

91% of companies want Britain to stay in the EU.

46

6

45

*3%

unde

cide

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Overall and key

% Yes% Yes % No(with negotiations)

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TMT

What impact would an exit from the EU have on your business?

years, it is perhaps surprising that our fast-growing companies remain so reliant on our nearest neighbours for trade. Official figures support the story being told by our survey: last year, the single market accounted for 45 per cent of exports of goods and services and 53 per cent of imports.

The single market accounted for 45 per cent of exports of British goods and services and 53 per cent of the imports last year.

That’s not to say all is rosy in the relationship between entrepreneurial companies and Europe. Directors appear to be divided on how far Britain should be pushing for renegotiation of the terms of our membership. Almost half of respondents said Britain should stay in the EU on the condition of a new settlement (45 per cent), but almost exactly the same proportion (46 per cent) said the answer to whether Britain should stay should be an unconditional ‘yes’.

The significant size of the former category does suggest there is some significant dissatisfaction and frustration with the way the single market is run among many businesses. The findings are backed up by a recent survey by the Institute of Directors, which found that 60 per cent of its members say their support for

continuing EU membership is conditional on successful reform in key areas.

The industrial sector comes out as by far the most Eurosceptic group of companies, with 23 per cent saying they would support an exit, compared to only five per cent in financial services, one per cent in technology and telecoms and not a single company in the healthcare market.

With employment law emanating from Europe a familiar bugbear among employers, perhaps the industrial sector’s reliance on a relatively large workforce is to blame.

In addition, regulation hitting the chemicals sector of the industrial market at the moment offers a neat illustration of why some businesses become exasperated with Europe. A significant overhaul of safety regulations which will see household names like Fairy Liquid either adding a “corrosive” warning sticker on their labels or changing their formulations. However, it’s likely to be the small, innovative companies that are hit the hardest.

With complaints like that all too common across an array of sectors, the defining issue for employers ahead of the referendum appears to be less whether they should vote ‘yes’ or ’no’, and more to what extent they should be adding their voices to calls for reform to how the single market is run.

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Business services IndustrialsHealthcare Financial services

4

25

71

Consumer

6

43

51

4

5046

5

43

52

18

35

47

3

38

59

Overall and key

6

41

53

PositiveNegativeNo impact

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Skills shortage and productivity

In the wake of the economic downturn, business surveys spent years telling us the same old story: it was either access to finance or simply the dampening effect the recession was having on demand that was keeping bosses awake at night.

The fact that both of those issues have slipped markedly down the rankings tells its own story about the outlook of fast-growing companies in 2015.

For many, the issue is no longer that the demand for the products and services is under threat, nor that they can’t secure the funds to fulfil orders. Instead, the fear is frequently that there simply aren’t enough gifted workers to go around to capitalise on the opportunities that are emerging.

On one hand, it’s a welcome sign of an improving economy. Yet the skills shortages that companies are reporting also point to a serious long-term challenge to businesses, government and the education system.

Only 9 per cent of businesses told us that they had no problem with recruiting the right staff. That leaves a remarkable 91 per cent of employers reporting that they are struggling to some extent to find skilled people to fill roles in their growing ventures. More than one in seven (15 per cent) said it was a significant problem.

% of companies citing skills shortages in key areas

49% 48% 25% 18%

IT /

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14% 13% 9% 9% 7% 4% 3% 3%

50% of companies say a super-deduction for staff training costs would best improve the productivity of their business.

91% of fast-growing companies report issues with skills shortages.

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There are concerns that while the proposed levy may well deliver more apprenticeships, it may also do little to improve the supply of people for the high quality, highly skilled roles businesses often need to fill today.

Given that more than a third of fast-growing companies told us they hire from outside the UK, debates over migration and the UK’s continued membership of the European Union are going to be of keen interest to entrepreneurs in the coming months.

One silver lining is that entrepreneurial businesses appear to be bucking the trend for weak productivity among British employers: 86% of respondents to the ECI survey claim worker productivity has improved over the last three years.

If companies are indeed finding ways of getting more from the workers they already have, it at

least alleviates some of the pressure they are under to hire more workers to meet growing demand.

It is an issue most UK regions are experiencing, but it is particularly pronounced in London and the north west, where 94 per cent and 92 per cent respectively said they are struggling to find appropriately skilled staff. Scotland is the outlier, with a more modest 67 per cent citing skills shortages as a challenge.

Workers with technology and, perhaps more surprisingly, sales and marketing skills are in shortest supply. Separate research from the CBI has found that demand for highly skilled workers is particularly strong in sectors which could be critical to the economic rebalancing – engineering, science and hi-tech, construction and manufacturing. Echoing our findings, the group recently warned of a pressing “skills emergency”.

So what can be done? Helpfully, respondents to the Growth Survey have some ideas. Almost half of companies would like to see tax incentives for investment in staff training to help tackle the problem. The proposal is even more popular among manufacturers, 60 per cent of which are supporters.

Given that one of the government’s responses is its plan to charge large companies an “apprenticeship levy” to pay for improved training, companies appear to be saying a carrot as well as stick is required.

53% of companies say cutting red tape would best help improve the productivity of their business.

94

North West

North East

Midlands

South West

South East

Ldn.

Overall % citing skills shortages by region

90

8992

86

89

67

Wales

Scotland

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Access to finance During the height of the economic downturn, news headlines and politicians focused on the struggle that companies were supposedly facing to secure finance.

However there is reason for optimism: an encouraging 73 per cent of growth companies said they expect it will be “easy” to obtain finance over the next 12 months, up from 65 per cent last year. Only a quarter said it would be difficult, down from a third in 2014.

What is welcome for the long-term health of Britain’s funding landscape is the marked increase in the popularity of private equity. A record 69 per cent of growth companies said they are now likely to use private equity backing to fund their plans, compared to 47 per cent last year and only 40 per cent in 2011. Conversely, less than one in five respondents expected to secure investment through accessing the public markets.

The availability of bank debt too is improving, with three quarters of respondents saying they will use lending, up from 57 per cent two years ago.

However, manufacturers appear to still be struggling: 43 per cent of them say it will be either ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ to obtain funding, the highest across all sectors.

A record high of

73% expect it to be ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to access finance.

A record high of

69% of companies likely to use private equity to fund their growth, up from 40% in 2011.

75% of companies are likely to seek bank debt over the next 12 months.

Ease of access % of companies are expecting it will be ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to access finance.

20%

40%

60%

80%

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

4136

54

6573

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The government has already revised its ambition to double the value of Britain’s exports to £1 trillion by 2020, and is now looking to get 100,000 more companies selling abroad within five years.

The significant headwinds that come from our reliance on our slow-growing European neighbours for demand and the challenge presented to exporters by the strength of sterling are both in evidence. A third of companies (34 per cent) said the strength of the pound was a barrier to international growth.

34% of companies said the strength of sterling is a barrier to international trade ahead of regulatory barriers and lack of trade expertise.

More than half said export growth will come from Continental Europe, a slight increase on last year. However, Asia is also popular among fast-growing businesses. Almost half of the companies surveyed expect to grow their businesses in China and nearby Asian markets over the course of the next year, suggesting a more ambitious outlook than the national average - according to the ONS, China accounts for just 5 per cent of overall UK exports.

Exports

34% of companies say sterling strength is a barrier to exporting, up from 24% in 2014.

27% of companies don’t expect to grow outside the UK over the next 12 months.

Most attractive regions for exports

ContinentalEurope

India

Asia Pacific

North America

South America

40%2014

49%2014

11%2014

48%2015

11%2014

53%2015

14%2015

10%2015

43%2014 48%

2015

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Case studyGo Ape

Over the last thirteen years, Tristram Mayhew has carefully built up his outdoor adventure company, Go Ape, into an employer of 1,000 people, with 40 sites across the UK and America...

It’s easy to take your foot off the pedal but my calling is to create the jobs for people. It is hugely exciting. Tristram Mayhew, Chief Gorilla / Founder

...Since Tristram and his wife remortgaged their home to fund the first course, near Thetford Forest, Norfolk, in 2002, the company’s expansion has been largely self-funded.

Now he says he’s come to appreciate the value of growth capital: armed with £9 million of bank backing, the business is growing a whole new division from scratch.

Air Space, an indoor trampolining and games venture, could take only 15 months to get to a scale which took Go Ape well over a decade to achieve, says Mr Mayhew, a former Royal Dragoon Guards officer.

Go Ape sees customers ranging from families with young children, to businesses organising team building days and groups of friends in their 20s all having fun on zip wires, ladders and walkways situated in its forest-based courses.

Mr Mayhew started the company after he realised the corporate life wasn’t for him: stints at GE and Coca-Cola after the army left him feeling dispirited.

With Go Ape now turning over £35 million a year, it must have been tempting for Mr Mayhew to take things a little easier, but he says the ambitious Air Space project is giving him fresh impetus.

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Case studyTheJobPost

...It will, however, take much more than that to impress Ken Brotherston, the recruitment industry veteran who joined TheJobPost as Chairman in 2013.

“We haven’t taken off yet. We are growing at 50 per cent a year, which sounds good, but we need to be doing 500 per cent a year. Placements need to be growing by 2,000 per cent a year. That’s when we’ll get lift off.”

That kind of ambitious thinking is one of the reasons why Mr Brotherston has been brought in. He is providing guidance and a sense of challenge to the founders to help the company get to the next stage.

“Taking a good concept and turning it into a business is where the hard work is. That’s why I joined - to help the founders make the idea more commercial, help with the funding and allow them to do what they do brilliantly, which is technology and marketing.”

TheJobPost shares vacancies with a wide range of specialist recruitment agencies, helping businesses fill vacancies more quickly and cheaply, and helping agencies reach a broader range of employers.

“Creating a Rightmove for recruitment is the vision.”

We are growing at 50 per cent a year, which sounds good, but we need to be doing 500 per cent a year. That’s when we’ll get lift off.”

Ken Brotherston, Chairman

The London-based business, which connects employers with recruitment agencies, has helped organisations including Vodafone and Nestlé fill vacancies. TheJobPost has revenues of £1.8 million and job placements made via the site grew by 187 per cent last year...

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Case studyCitation

…Mr Morris, the former boss of hotel booking site LateRooms after its sale to travel giant Tui, joined the Wilmslow-based Citation in 2013. Initially, Chris was attracted by the potential for improvement within the business, he says.

“It looked very much like an owner-managed lifestyle business - good at its core but underinvested in. It was a real opportunity with a large addressable market.”

Management was strengthened, the company was rebranded and technology was introduced to the employment law and health and safety consultancy’s processes, new products were deployed and added through acquisitions.

Improving the working culture at the business was also key - something that he says should be considered vital in any private equity buyout.

“Citation was named as one of the ‘UK’s 100 Best Companies to Work For’ by The Sunday Times in 2015. We were a million miles away from that two years ago. Now we work hard and reward people. We don’t sit in the pub on Friday afternoons. Most people have risen to the challenge.”

Sales at the company are about £36 million. Mr Morris says that should grow by about 80 per cent over the next five years. After all, a CEO’s job is never finished.

Chris Morris is a believer in the untapped potential lurking in many of Britain’s owner-managed companies. He’s confident his own leadership of Citation, a small business advisory firm, will provide a case in point...

Citation was named as one of the ‘UK’s 100 Best Companies to Work For’ by The Sunday Times in 2015. We were a million miles away from that two years ago. Chris Morris, CEO

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Case studyBrompton

...However, with ambitions to grow annual sales to 100,000 of its famous folding bikes a year by 2021, the company briefly flirted with moving its manufacturing outside the capital for the first time, admits Stephen Loftus, the company’s sales and marketing director.

As it drew up plans to double its factory space, necessity almost pushed Brompton beyond the M25, but in the end leaving home in London just proved too difficult: “What would happen if we moved out? We had that discussion. We realised our ability to make great bikes in a major city helps the brand. It’s more than Made in Britain, it’s Made in London. It’s our home and we’ve built an incredible skills base in the area.”

After an exhaustive and time consuming search, the company eventually found an 86,000 sq ft plant in Greenford, west London, to move into, which is nearly twice the size of its current base in nearby Brentford.

Mr Loftus says the company’s status as a city brand has helped power impressive sales among commuters overseas, with three quarters of its £34 million turnover coming from abroad. Asia is one of its key markets, and home to three of its Brompton Junction retail outlets.

He remains upbeat despite fears about slowing growth in the world’s second largest economy, China. “With the growing middle class, the long term opportunity is huge.”

Ever since Brompton Bicycle started life in inventor Andrew Ritchie’s South Kensington flat in 1975, the company has been inextricably linked with west London...

Our ability to make great bikes in a major city helps the brand. It’s more than Made in Britain, it’s Made in London. Stephen Loftus, Sales and Marketing Director

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Case studyBulldog

...He should know. The 38 year-old is co-founder of Bulldog, a male grooming business founded in 2006 that has grown into the third largest men’s skincare brand in the UK.

That success, based on a combination of no nonsense branding and only using natural ingredients, is expected to deliver sales of £12 million this year.

About a third of that turnover will come from abroad. Seeing Bulldog’s success in retailers like Boots in Britain gives shops and distributors overseas great confidence, he says.

“It is an advanced and sophisticated market. Once you reach a degree of profile in the UK, you will get interest from overseas.”

So much so in fact, that the challenge for Bulldog has become picking which opportunities to pursue. The business operates in 14 markets, but Mr Duffy says he and co-founder Rhodri Ferrier have turned down opportunities to work in far more: focus is crucial when running a fast-growing business, he advises.

“We are competing with giants like Procter & Gamble and L’Oréal, some of the biggest, most influential companies in the world. There is a risk of trying to do too much – so we prefer to be ambitious in a small number of areas.”

There is a risk of trying to do too much – so we prefer to be ambitious in a small number of areas. Simon Duffy, Founder

If you can build a winning business at home, why not repeat the trick abroad?

Simon Duffy says British companies that manage to succeed in Britain’s cutthroat retail industry are particularly well placed to win customers in markets all over the world...

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A farm might sound an unlikely place to hit upon an idea for a fast-growing technology company. However, being stuck in a remote Canadian farmhouse provided inspiration for Nigel Wallbridge to set up Nomad Digital in 2002...

Case studyNomad Digital

...When he solved the farm’s connectivity problems, he wondered if he could do the same on a moving vehicle. Nomad soon became the world’s first provider of wi-fi on trains.

The Newcastle upon Tyne based company now works with 60 rail companies around the world and also provides passenger information systems and train performance and maintenance monitoring solutions for operators. Turnover of £29 million in 2014 is expected to grow by 45 per cent this year.

Reece Donovan, Nomad’s chief operating officer, says train wi-fi has gone from being regarded as luxury by operators to a must-have demanded by passengers. The wi-fi technology works by quickly switching between mobile networks as the train moves - quite a technical and engineering challenge on a vehicle that is “moving at more than 100mph,” Mr Donovan says.

With the technology rapidly improving as the market matures, Nomad, which is one of the UK’s fastest growing private companies, has to move quickly to keep its nose in front.

The business relies on hiring people with an unusual combination of knowledge of both the rail industry and technology, and attracting the right talent is the “single biggest challenge” facing Nomad, Mr Donovan adds.

The wi-fi technology works by quickly switching between mobile networks as the train moves - quite a technical and engineering challenge on a vehicle that is moving at more than 100mph. Reece Donovan, COO

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