North Star

Name

North Star

Legal name

Northstar Consultancy Limited

Website

https://northstarconsultancy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Transport Consulting Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Rail Transportation (4882), Support Activities for Rail Transportation (488210)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Strategy Advisory (BPAHADAA)

Keywords

• Transport consultancy services
• Rail operations consulting
• Air-rail link planning
• Bid management consulting
• Passenger experience advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Professional Consultancy Services: North Star generates revenue through providing specialist consultancy services to the transport industry. Engagements cover strategic advice, operational planning, procurement support, bid management, mobilisation, and operational readiness services. Revenue is earned through project-based professional service engagements with transport operators, authorities, and government bodies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

North Star is a global transport consultancy providing specialist advisory services to rail, metro, light rail, bus, and air-rail link operators, authorities, and government departments. The firm delivers project-based consulting across strategic advice, bid and procurement management, operational mobilisation, customer experience, disruption and major events, and air-rail link planning from offices in London, Dubai, and Sydney.

Product overview

North Star is a global transport consultancy providing specialist advisory services rather than a software product company. The company offers a unified set of consulting services covering international strategic advice, procurement and bid management, mobilisation and operations readiness, customer-focused solutions, disruption management, and air-rail links expertise. These services are delivered by specialists with decades of experience in the transport industry across rail (heavy, urban metros, light rail), bus, and air-rail link sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• International Strategic Advice - Delivering Solutions Independent strategic advice for the global transport industry, delivering solutions across international markets to transport authorities, operators, and government departments.
• Procurement, Bid Management and Technical Writing Expert bid writing and proposal management with a proven track record for transport sector clients, including bid support for franchises and major service contracts.
• Mobilisation and Operations and Maintenance Readiness Operational expertise to support the start-up of all types of rail services, ensuring readiness for operations including procedure writing, testing, trials, and mentoring.
• Customer-Focused Solutions Significant experience in understanding, shaping, and improving the customer experience to ensure delivery of outstanding service levels for transport operators.
• Disruption Management and Major Events Development of bespoke models to manage disruption across all organisational levels and full spectrum of event management support, including major events such as the 2012 London Olympics.
• Air-Rail Links Experts in planning, project managing, and implementing some of the world's most successful air-rail links, with over 100,000 hours of global experience including Birmingham (mode share 9.1% to 23%), London Luton Airport, and GTAA Toronto Pearson.

Quantifiable outcome

• DLR Olympic performance: 100% more passengers than same period in 2011, 99.1% service reliability, 99.95% peak reliability on day 6
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AugmentiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorth Star and Augmentium entered into a strategic partnership. The nature of the partnership involves collaborative delivery of services to the transport industry, though specific details of the collaboration were not elaborated in the available sources.
• AtkinscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorth Star partners with Atkins as part of the Department for Transport's STAR (Specialist Technical Advice for Rail) Framework. This strategic partnership provides consultancy support to DfT for railway operational requirements, rail evaluations, and franchise assessments. North Star provides specialist railway operational expertise within this framework.
• AppearcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorth Star and Appear partnered to launch 'Service Excellence in Motion' (SEM), an innovative customer information solution combining North Star's consultancy expertise with Appear's context-aware mobile technology platform. The programme helps passenger transport operators improve disruption management through mobile technologies for frontline employees.
• IARO (International Air Rail Organisation)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerNorth Star secured sponsorship of the 16th International Air Conference in Vienna (October 2007) and has ongoing relationship with IARO. Managing Director Richard Brown joined the IARO board in 2009. North Star continues to participate in IARO conferences as sponsors and presenters.
• Parsons BrinckerhoffminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorth Star met with Parsons Brinckerhoff directors in Los Angeles in 2009 to discuss collaboration on air rail projects. Parsons Brinckerhoff is one of the world's leading transport engineering firms with a 120-year pedigree and clients in over 80 countries.
• Grant ThorntonminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerNorth Star was engaged with Grant Thornton to undertake organisational design work for the new national railway company in Oman. The partnership combined North Star's rail operations expertise with Grant Thornton's consulting capabilities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Egis: Egis is a French-headquartered international engineering and operations group with strong rail, metro and airport consulting capabilities, including mobilisation and operations support work analogous to North Star's service lines across Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
• Ricardo: Ricardo is a global engineering and strategic consultancy with a rail and transport practice providing operational, performance and mobilisation advisory services — closely aligned with North Star's specialist consultancy positioning.
• SYSTRA: SYSTRA is a global engineering consultancy specialised in rail and public transport, providing strategic advisory, operations support and mobilisation services to rail authorities and operators worldwide — directly comparable to North Star's transport consultancy offering across heavy rail, metro and light rail.
• Steer: Steer (formerly Steer Davies Gleave) is an independent transport strategy consultancy advising on rail, aviation and urban mobility. Its focus on transport strategy, demand forecasting and operations consulting closely overlaps North Star's strategic advisory and air-rail service lines.
• AtkinsRéalis: AtkinsRéalis (formerly Atkins) is a global engineering and project management consultancy with a large rail practice covering strategic advisory, operations planning and franchise mobilisation — explicitly named as a North Star partner on the DfT STAR Framework and a direct competitor for UK rail consultancy mandates.

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: AECOM is a global infrastructure consultancy with significant rail, transit and aviation advisory capabilities. It pursues the same transport authority and operator clients as North Star but typically bundles advisory with engineering design and programme management services.
• WSP: WSP is a global engineering professional services firm with a substantial transport and rail advisory practice, acquired Parsons Brinckerhoff in 2014. It competes for transport authority mandates across strategy, planning and operations as part of a broader infrastructure portfolio.
• Jacobs: Jacobs is a global professional services firm with a critical infrastructure consulting practice covering rail, transit and aviation strategy, operations and advisory, competing with North Star for large transport authority mandates.
• Arup: Arup is a multinational engineering and design firm with deep transport planning, rail and aviation practices. It appears as a North Star client logo and pursues adjacent mandates for major transport authorities and airports.
• Mott MacDonald: Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management and development consultancy with a strong rail and metros practice covering advisory, operations and mobilisation work, competing with North Star in the UK and internationally.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NorthStarComms
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/north-star-consultancy-limited

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about North Star