Andrew Steel

Said the following about Alan McLeish:

“The story of Alan McLeish and how QTS was born is one of grit and determination. Starting the business with a £300 loan from his mum in 1992, with a wife and three young children at home, Alan gave up his steady, full-time employment to pursue a dream.

Fast forward 30 years and that dream is now a reality – with QTS employing over 600 people across the UK and turning over more than £100m per year.

In these 30 years, the contribution Alan McLeish has made to the rail industry and to the people who have worked for him, is unparalleled.

He has personally contributed over £100,000 to charity – climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, completing the Kiltwalk, sleeping out in Edinburgh and regularly donating to worthy causes close to his heart. He is also a proud trustee of Whiteleys Retreat in South Ayrshire, which provides respite for the families of young children with cancer.

He is the driving force behind the philanthropy displayed by QTS in local communities and charities in the places our teams live and work, ensuring that the success of our business benefits those who need it most.

But Alan’s greatest contribution is through his passion for the rail industry. He truly is a visionary when it comes to road rail machinery and has been the mind behind many innovative machines over the last 30 years.

When QTS first started, Alan was hands on, working alongside his team. Working nights, all over the UK, he was the very epitome of not asking someone to do something he wouldn’t be prepared to do himself.

Early on, Alan developed a real passion for creating efficiencies through machinery. One of his first innovations changed the way rail maintenance done forever. In the late 90’s, Alan developed a machine which would work under live lines. This machine, PW110, was the first of its kind to do on track work, including wetbeds, drainage, installing and removing track. By being able to work safely under live lines, it meant teams could access lines quicker and be more productive in the time that they had on track. Instead of having to wait for isolations to clear, work could start immediately, gaining an additional two hours per shift.

Alan also created one of the first on rail vactors, born from working alongside his team, manually removing slurry in tunnels by hand and realising there was a more mechanical way to carry out these tasks. Adapting his own experience into new ways of doing things has always been one of his areas of expertise.

As the years have progressed and the business, and our plant fleet, has grown, Alan continues to play a massive part in the QTS world, even after the company was sold in 2018. The family business ethos still resonates within the company. He remains at the helm and his influence continues to push the business forward.“

Paul Scott

Said the following about Alan McLeish:

“We were delighted to welcome the management and staff of QTS to the Renew Group when we made the acquisition in May 2018. Since then and under Alan’s leadership, the business has continued its incredible progression and today it is firmly established as one of the UK’s leading multidisciplinary rail infrastructure specialists. At Renew we are extremely proud to have the QTS brand within the family. A key component of the company’s success has been Alan’s focus on the quality of people working across the entire organisation and the opportunities for staff to fully develop and progress in their career. Alan is an exceptional entrepreneur and remains driven by the challenges and opportunities presented by the perpetual demand to find ways of adding better value to our clients and all stakeholders across the Rail sector. Innovation is embedded in the DNA of QTS, the company’s track record for delivering safety and productivity improvement in the execution of rail services is sector leading, an achievement driven by Alan for which he, the organisation and the rail industry should be extremely proud.“