Lumo bring businesses together for cross-border collaboration

Leading open access rail operator Lumo has helped bring businesses from across the North East of England and Scotland together by encouraging a new cross-border collaboration between the North East Chamber of Commerce, Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.

Inspired by Lumo's role in connecting communities and businesses every day, the Chamber Connect event at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium demonstrated how stronger transport links can also help strengthen economic relationships across the nations and regions.

Around 100 representatives from a diverse range of sectors attended the event for a morning of structured networking, knowledge-sharing and collaboration, creating new opportunities for organisations to develop partnerships beyond their traditional markets.

As part of the experience, attendees also enjoyed an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Scotland's national rugby stadium, alongside a visit to Fingal Hotel; the five-star floating hotel and event venue permanently berthed in Leith and owned by The Royal Yacht Britannia.

 

Tim Marsden, Knowledge Manager at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: "This first-of-its-kind Chamber Connect event was a fantastic opportunity to bring together businesses from across the North East of England, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

"Events like this help members make valuable new connections, share ideas and open doors to future partnerships.

"We were delighted to work alongside our Chamber colleagues in Scotland to deliver this event and very many thanks to our official travel partner Lumo for providing complimentary return train travel.

"We look forward to building on the success of this Chamber Connect through future collaborations that create even more opportunities as we continue to champion our members, strengthen business networks and support economic growth across our regions."

Richard Salkeld, Director of Communications & Partnerships at Lumo, said: "Every day Lumo connects people, businesses and communities between London, the North of England and Scotland, so it felt like a natural extension of what we do to bring together three Chamber organisations and encourage greater collaboration across borders.

"Rail has always been about creating connections, but those connections should go far beyond the stations we serve. We believed there was an opportunity to help businesses from the North East of England, Edinburgh and Glasgow meet, exchange ideas and build relationships that could unlock future economic growth, and we're delighted the Chambers embraced that vision.

"As one of the UK's highest-rated long-distance rail operators for customer satisfaction, and currently the country's number one operator for value for money according to the latest nationwide passenger survey, we know that great journeys can create lasting opportunities.



Lucy Davids, Business Development Manager at Hotel Gotham Newcastle, said: "It's been really good to be part of this Chamber Connect. From a business development and relationship point of view it's been great to have conversations with businesses who are based in Scotland and travel to Newcastle for work. Forming these connections will help to increase our brand awareness.

"I want to further engage audiences in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and this is a great way to start those conversations and create connections from both a business and leisure travel perspective." 

Alan Busby, Senior Events & Professional Development Manager at Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: "The Chamber Connect event showed what becomes possible when Chamber networks work across borders.

"Glasgow's business community has a long track record of collaboration, and this event gave our members direct access to new relationships in the North East of England and Edinburgh that would otherwise take considerably more time and effort to build.

"We are keen to see this model repeated and to keep opening doors for businesses that want to grow beyond their immediate region." 

Emma Reid, Commercial Director at Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "This event is a great example of the strength we can unlock by working together across our Chamber network.

"We know that making connections is the number one reason businesses engage with us, so bringing our Edinburgh, Glasgow and North East England communities together creates even more opportunities - locally, nationally and across the UK.

"This is just the beginning of a collaborative approach that will help our members build meaningful relationships, access new markets and grow together." 

The collaboration reflects Lumo's wider commitment to connecting communities and supporting regional growth. The operator was the first rail company in Britain to remove plastic bottles from its onboard service and continues to champion suppliers from across its route, including Ringtons tea and coffee and Newcastle-based WATA drinks from the North East, alongside Scottish products such as Holyrood Distillery whisky. This year Lumo is supporting more community and Pride events than ever before as part of its commitment to inclusion and creating positive social impact. 

Lumo is currently the UK's highest-rated rail operator for value for money in the latest nationwide passenger survey published earlier this month and is also one of the country's leading long-distance operators for overall customer satisfaction, reflecting its focus on providing affordable, sustainable and customer-focused rail travel. 

The inaugural Chamber Connect event demonstrated how collaboration between transport providers and business organisations can create meaningful economic opportunities, with Lumo and the three Chambers already looking at how similar initiatives could support businesses across the wider UK in the future.

North East Chamber members travelled to and from Edinburgh using complimentary return rail travel provided by Lumo, reinforcing the operator's commitment to encouraging sustainable business travel while helping connect organisations across its route.