Raildiary

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Manchester, UK, Gather, formerly known as Raildiary, provides a specialized data capture and analytics platform for the construction industry. The company was established by William Doyle, a former quantity surveyor, who experienced firsthand the inefficiencies and financial risks associated with poor-quality, paper-based site records. Frustrated by the challenges of substantiating claims and managing project costs with inconsistent data, Doyle, along with co-founder and CTO Paul Clegg, developed a digital solution to streamline worksite reporting.

Gather operates on a subscription-based (SaaS) business model, offering its platform to construction contractors of all sizes, from SMEs to large Tier 1 firms. The company's core product is a cloud-based application that allows site teams to quickly and consistently log daily activities, resources, and progress through a user-friendly mobile interface, even in challenging on-site conditions. This digital site diary system is designed to replace manual, paper-based processes, reducing the time for record-keeping from hours to minutes. By capturing structured, real-time data, the platform provides project managers and commercial teams with immediate visibility into project performance, enabling them to compare planned versus actual progress and make informed decisions.

Initially focused on the rail sector, the company secured approximately £650,000 ($826K) in a debt funding round in May 2019 from investors including the Rail Supply Growth Fund and Angelgroups to fuel product development and expansion. This investment supported the enhancement of its initial products, 'Sitediary' and 'Engineersdiary'. Recognizing the broader applicability of its solution, Raildiary rebranded to Gather in 2024 to serve a wider range of infrastructure sectors, including highways, water, aviation, and energy. The platform now helps clients manage projects by providing features for shift planning, progress tracking, document management, and automated reporting, ultimately aiming to mitigate disputes, ensure fair payment, and improve overall project profitability.

Keywords: construction technology, contech, site diary software, project management, data capture, construction analytics, infrastructure projects, quantity surveying, project cost management, field reporting, SaaS, digital construction, resource management, shift planning, progress tracking, cost control, Raildiary, worksite reporting, construction records, project performance, NEC contracts