This month, we caught up with Darren Williams, Managing Director at Evolvi, to chat about emerging trends and the changing face of business travel. With decades of experience including 21 years at Eurostar, Darren brings a unique perspective on both the opportunities and challenges facing Britain’s railways. Our conversation covered everything from how business travel is evolving to why flexibility is more important than ever.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and a fun fact?
My name is Darren Williams, and I’m the Managing Director at Evolvi. Before joining the company, I spent 21 years at Eurostar, where I witnessed the opening of Ashford International, the high-speed line, St Pancras International, Ebbsfleet, and even the London Olympics. After those two decades, I took a year’s sabbatical before moving to RATP Dev, the international arm of the Paris Metro operator, then onto Omio where I was reunited with international rail.
Fun fact: Evolvi is actually the first wholly UK-based or owned company I’ve ever worked for. That background means I can compare best practices from other railways and sometimes have a slightly different perspective.
Who is Evolvi and what do they do? Can you tell us about Evolvi and what makes it unique?
Evolvi is all about making UK rail booking simple, smart, and tailored to what businesses actually need. We take the complexity out of fares and give travel companies – from corporate travel firms to leisure operators and agencies – the tools to offer their customers more choice and flexibility. In short, we help our partners book rail travel quickly, easily, and in a way that fits their goals.
What makes Evolvi different from other travel booking websites?
Our platforms work in real time, with handy features like mobile and eTicketing, and can be customised through self-booking tools or APIs. Over 95% of our work is in the business travel market. Unlike consumer sites, we’re highly niche and focused on customisation for corporate travel policies.
How do you persuade companies/staff to choose rail over other travel modes?
For London routes, it’s about showing time savings, carbon benefits, and cost comparisons to air travel – all clearly displayed in our tools. The next challenge is making regional rail travel more attractive. It’s easy to justify rail between London and Manchester, but less so between smaller regional cities
Evolvi has been a key player in the business travel sector for years. How is technology changing the way companies book and manage rail travel?
Reliability, speed, and data are vital – people won’t wait for a site to load. Self-service is also key; most people prefer to book without calling anyone. AI hasn’t yet made a big impact in our sector just yet, but it’s likely the next frontier. But innovation is key – making systems more intuitive more flexible and making the user experience better.
Are you seeing any new trends in business travel since the pandemic? For example, changes in peak travel times, journey patterns, or class of travel?
Business travel has grown steadily each year since 2020, though it’s still not back to 2019 levels. Overall, people are travelling less as remote meetings have replaced some in-person ones. Booking patterns have become more polarised around 20% book the day before travel, and another 20% book two weeks in advance, with the remaining bookings in between. That said, we are seeing more people choose trains, so the trend is definitely moving in the right direction.
Has hybrid working changed corporate rail travel demand?
Not drastically for our market. It’s impacted season ticket sales more than corporate travel. The bigger shift is fewer face-to-face meetings overall, but the trips that remain are still essential.
Q: The rail industry is going through reform in the UK – what impact do you think this will have on corporate travel and the businesses you serve?
As long as investment is there, demand will always follow. One of our main concerns is maintaining access to rich, customisable fare data. In other countries, state railways often restrict how data can be used, and we hope that doesn’t happen here. Having open access to this data is essential, as it allows us to present customers with more choice, more flexibility, and the ability to find the journeys and fares that work best for them.
If you could make one change to fares or ticketing, what would it be?
Clarity over simplification. Your average business travellers need fares that are easy to understand without hidden restrictions. The language should be consistent across all platforms and frontline staff training should reflect that.
We’d like to thank Darren for sharing his experience and perspectives on the changing face of business travel. Evolvi’s focus on innovation, flexibility, and smarter booking tools positions them as a leader in the sector, helping businesses make rail travel simpler and more sustainable.
Find out more about Evolvi and how they’re making business rail travel smarter and simpler.
