Alma Rail Streamlines KPI Reporting Using Gather

"Gather allows us to record shift details and track inspection output in real time. It's a massive time saver for us. It keeps our clients happy." — Richard Walker, Managing Director

The Challenge: When Paper Diaries Meet Growing Ambition

Alma Rail is a specialist rail contractor with a growing reputation for delivering track inspection and maintenance works across the UK rail network. With £7 million annual turnover and a portfolio of clients including Network Rail and train operating companies, the business had reached a critical inflection point.

The challenge wasn't winning work — it was capturing the value of the work they delivered. Like most rail contractors, Alma Rail relied on paper site diaries, Excel spreadsheets, and end-of-shift phone calls to track production. The system worked when projects were small. But as the business grew, cracks began to show.

• Communication lag — Office staff waited days for site updates. By the time information arrived, it was often too late to act on problems.
• Inconsistent data — Site diaries and allocation sheets were captured differently across projects. One supervisor used detailed notes; another used bullet points. Comparing productivity across sites was impossible.
• KPI blindness — Clients increasingly demanded real-time KPI reporting. Alma Rail could deliver excellent work, but proving it with data meant hours of manual consolidation.
• Admin burden — Site supervisors spent valuable time at the end of each shift filling in paperwork instead of preparing for the next day's work.

Richard Walker, Managing Director, recognised the problem: "We were doing great work, but we couldn't show it. Our clients wanted dashboards and real-time updates, and we were sending them Excel spreadsheets days after the work was done."

The Search for a Solution

Alma Rail evaluated several options. Generic project management tools didn't understand rail terminology or the structure of shift-based work. Bespoke development was too expensive and too slow. The team needed something purpose-built for rail construction that could be deployed quickly without disrupting live projects.

They found Gather through a recommendation from another rail contractor. The platform had been built by construction professionals who understood the specific challenges of site record management. More importantly, it could be configured to match Alma Rail's existing workflows rather than forcing the team to adopt entirely new processes.

The Implementation: Getting the Entire Team On Board

Implementing new technology on live construction sites is notoriously difficult. Site teams are busy, sceptical of change, and protective of methods that have worked for years. Richard Walker knew that success depended on winning hearts and minds, not just deploying software.

The rollout started with three key projects: Llandudno Junction, Breedon CapEx 2021, and Arriva Train Care. These were chosen deliberately — each had different client requirements, different team compositions, and different reporting demands. If Gather could work across all three, it could work anywhere.

Site supervisors received hands-on training from the Gather team. The focus wasn't on features and buttons, but on solving real problems: "How do I record a delay without spending 20 minutes writing?" "How do I show the client we hit our targets this week?" "How do I hand over to the next shift without a phone call?"

Within two weeks, all three project teams were using Gather daily. The tipping point came when supervisors realised they were finishing shifts earlier. The app's pre-population features meant up to 60% of each record was already filled in. What used to take 30 minutes at the end of a shift now took 5.

The Transformation: From Reactive to Proactive

The real change wasn't about saving time on paperwork — though that mattered. The real change was in how Alma Rail operated as a business.

Before Gather, the office team worked reactively. They discovered problems when clients complained or when invoices were queried. By then, it was too late to gather evidence or make corrections. The business was always on the back foot.

After Gather, information flowed in real time. Richard Walker could open his phone at 7am and see exactly what happened on every site the previous night. If a productivity target was missed, he knew immediately. If materials were delayed, he could see the impact before the client called.

"The visibility changed everything," Richard explains. "We stopped firefighting and started managing. When a client asks a question now, we don't have to say 'let me get back to you.' We can show them the data on the spot."

The analytics dashboards became a competitive advantage. Alma Rail could now offer clients something few competitors could match: real-time KPI reporting without manual effort. Production data flowed automatically from site to dashboard. No spreadsheets, no consolidation, no delays.

Results That Matter: Proving the Value

The numbers tell the story. Within the first year of using Gather, Alma Rail achieved 21x return on investment. The ROI calculation included time savings, reduced administrative costs, and — critically — revenue that would have been lost to poor documentation.

The team now captures 60+ site records per month across all projects. Each record is structured, searchable, and linked to specific work packages. When disputes arise (and they always do), Alma Rail has contemporaneous evidence that stands up to scrutiny.

Perhaps most importantly, the rollout achieved 100% company adoption. Every supervisor, every project, every shift now uses Gather. There's no parallel paper system, no "I'll do it later" workarounds. The platform became the single source of truth.

Client Impact: Keeping Everyone Happy

Alma Rail's clients noticed the difference immediately. Weekly progress meetings became shorter and more productive. Instead of debating what had happened, discussions focused on what to do next. The data removed ambiguity and finger-pointing from the conversation.

One client, a major train operating company, specifically cited Gather's reporting capabilities as a factor in awarding additional work. They'd worked with contractors who promised visibility but delivered spreadsheets. Alma Rail delivered actual dashboards with actual real-time data.

"It keeps our clients happy," Richard says simply. "They can see what we're doing, when we're doing it, and how well we're doing it. That builds trust. And trust wins repeat business."

Looking Forward: Building on the Foundation

Alma Rail's journey with Gather is far from over. The foundation of consistent, structured data opens new possibilities: predictive analytics, automated compliance reporting, and integration with client systems.

Richard Walker sees Gather as a strategic asset, not just an operational tool: "We've built a library of production data that shows exactly what we can deliver. When we bid for new work, we're not making promises — we're showing proof. That's a powerful differentiator in a competitive market."

Key Takeaways

• Real-time KPI monitoring — Identify productivity issues before they impact delivery
• Automated client reporting — Share progress instantly without manual consolidation
• Consistent data capture — Every shift recorded the same way, every time
• 21x ROI — Investment pays back within the first year
• 100% adoption — Success requires full team buy-in, not partial deployment