Members Spotlight

Jane joined the railway in 1993 as a management graduate trainee. Working in a number of different roles and companies, she joined Merseyrail in 2011 as people director and became deputy MD in 2019. She is also a trustee of the railway benefit fund, the only charity dedicated to current and former rail employees and the Big Trust, a charity based in  Liverpool focusing on supporting and helping some of those at the most disadvantage residents in the Liverpool City region.

What motivates you to get up and start work on a bad day?

Luckily, I am definitely a morning person. Regardless of what time I have to leave the house I take my dog out, whether it be for 50 minutes or 10 minutes. It clears my head and helps me focus on the day ahead. Everyday in my role brings new challenges and successes and I always focus on the positive, but I’m pragmatic enough to know that somethings will be more difficult to achieve. Having a great team around me definitely helps and success more often than not will come through collaboration and teamwork over anything else. This is a great motivator for me.

If you could ask one person one question, who would it be and why?

Baroness Karren Brady is a real role model of mine and I was thrilled when she presented me (on behalf of Merseyrail!) with an award for employee engagement. I would ask her about her experience of managing football clubs and how you drive real change in such a male dominated environment, where stereotyped culture and ‘the way we do things around here’ can be embedded in the fabric of the business. I admire her no nonsense, but empathetic style, where she uses her experience and influence to make real change and to become a female managing director of a football club at the age of 23 takes courage and determination. If I was allowed one more question, I would ask her how she keeps her cool with some of the candidates that appear on the apprentice also!

What was the hardest decision you ever had to make?

This question really challenged me as you make decisions every day, some harder than others. My hardest was probably when my daughter was one year old, and we decided to move from Scotland to Yorkshire due to work locations for both me and my husband. We knew that to progress our careers we would need to move, in our case to Yorkshire, as my new role was in York and Sean worked in Lancashire. We left behind friends and a strong family network to live somewhere where we knew no one and our closest family member was 250 miles away. Whilst we knew it was going to be the right decision in the long run, it was tough moving somewhere, with a young child, where you didn’t know anyone and there was no support mechanism around you. But you change and adapt, do things differently and adjust to suit your new environment. We have moved three times since then and we’re still in the same village, we love it, so it definitely was the right move.

What are your success habits?

Build a strong team around you which compliment your strengths and support in your development areas. I have people on my team who are much better at their roles than I would ever be. You should never be afraid to recruit someone who is better than you.

When you work in HR you are often seen as wanting to say yes and please everyone all of the time. Experience has taught me this is not possible, or quite often the right thing to do. What is important is how you act and do things. Having integrity, empathy and openness is important, more important than being seen to be nice.

Make sure you have a healthy work life balance and you challenge your team to do the same. Luckily work is not a chore for me, but I do ensure I switch off and make family and friends the focus of my time.

Recognise that there are lots of different ways to get to the same outcome. Experience is a gift and being in HR for nearly 30 years it would be easy to think you’ve seen and done it all. But experience can also cloud your view about how to do things differently, what might work and stop you trying something never thought of before.

I started at Merseyrail when I was 17 years old as a Business and Administration apprentice, the apprenticeship gave me a taste of different areas within the business including HR, Finance, Marketing and Projects. Following my apprenticeship, I was able to secure myself a Project Support role and over the last 3 years I have now been working as a Project Manager. My career at Merseyrail so far has been really varied and no two days are the same. In 2016, I was also part of establishing a Women’s Football Team which is sponsored by Merseyrail and has achieved tremendous success and is still going strong today.

We asked Lauren:

Who inspired you to be a better person?

Both my Mum and Dad inspired me to be the person I am today, from an early age they instilled in me the value of hard work and always taught me that mistakes are not failures, just a lesson learned. Losing my Mum in 2019 was very hard but has inspired me to continue to work hard and take as many opportunities as possible as life can be very short.

What are your interests?

Sport is a major part of my life, in particular football and CrossFit. I love travelling and exploring new places and there is nothing better than live music, obviously because of the pandemic, live concerts have been cancelled so I am excited for when they will start up again.

What are your goals in life?

When I was younger, my goal was to always be involved in sport in some capacity however I found a love for Business Management while completing my degree. My main goal in life now is to continue progressing with my project management career and one day I would love to study Law as it has also been a real interest, but I think the main goal in life is to just be happy in everything you do.

What is the biggest factor that has helped you be successful?

My fear of failure, I am quite hard on myself and have always had a real drive to succeed in whatever I do whether that be in work or my personal life. I also believe starting out at Merseyrail from a young age and working my way up has enabled me to see that when you put the hard work in, it is rewarded.

Marjorie Birch Deputy Chair of WiCR .

I spent all my working life in education beginning in 1966 in a Primary School in the centre of Blackburn moving to Daisyfield Primary School, which was close to my childcare provider.  In the early 1970’s an opportunity came up for an Early Years teacher at a school for children with special educational needs, one of the best decisions I’ve made. I went back to university for a year to study this area and eventually worked in a multi disciplinary setting working with children under five, their parents and carers.

In 1996 I move to a job in Lancashire County Council which involved working with the voluntary, private and state sectors in developing services for children under seven. These included before and after school clubs, nursery classes and holiday provision.

We asked Marjorie

What are your goals in life, or have you achieved them

From my teens my goal was to be a teacher, there was no other career that interested me. I was delighted when I got a place at Alsager Training College

and qualified as a teacher. (I also met my husband there). I don’t really set myself goals but look for opportunities. Following my husband’s death his friends offered me the opportunity to join the rail group that he was involved in. That led to me becoming Chair of the group, a member of the Clitheroe Line Partnership and a director of Community Rail Lancashire. I was also a Vice–Chair of ACoRP .

Richard Watts gave me the opportunity to set up the CRL Education programme with Brian Haworth, which over ten years involved thousands of primary school pupils, a very rewarding experience. With the formation of WiCR new opportunities arose to belong to an organization, which was inclusive, supportive and proactive in developing good practice in Community Rail. The adoption of the Code of Conduct by Community Rail Network, the DfT and Network Rail was the result of listening to the voices of people working in Community Rail and a major achievement by the organization.

If you could not volunteer for a year what would you do?

I’ve recently experienced a year without volunteering and I certainly missed the teamwork, friendship and support that working as a volunteer brings. I suppose I would travel, driving through France down to the Pyrenees and hoping to catch some stages of the Tour de France.

What are your interests?

Travel comes high on the list. France is my favourite place and is full of happy memories. I enjoy the amazing seafood, the wine and the pace of life.  I’m also an avid reader and with a group of friends enjoy film nights at a local pub. I’ve recently taken to gardening and am enjoying eating the produce which I’ve grown.

Explain the photograph.

This photograph was taken on 11^th April 2014 on a special steam train that ran from Leeds to Carlisle to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the saving of the Settle- Carlisle Line. Michael Portillo was the special guest and travelled part of the way to Carlisle in the cab. At Carlisle we all alighted and had a short stay at the station. Every passenger had an allotted seat and when I returned to my seat Michael Portillo was seated at it.   I explained that he was sitting in my seat, he apologised and prepared to move. Again an opportunity arose and hence the photograph.

Sally Buttifant MBE, former Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership Officer and now Housing Options Adviser.

Sally started out as a Dr’s receptionist and learnt frontline customer service skills which she has put to good use in a career in local government. Her roles have included estate management, community engagement and before going in to housing options, 10 years working along the Mid Cheshire Line with partners and volunteers. Founder member of WiCR Sally is proud to have made a difference, encouraged people to volunteer and get involved with community rail.

Who inspired you to be a better person?

That’s a difficult one …… being bullied at school and being on the edge of friendship groups made me conscious of those who were left out and put down so I have always endeavoured to like everyone and realise that unkind or grumpy, awkward people may be experiencing their own trauma and to always try and include and give the benefit of the doubt.

I also lost my best friend to suicide when we were in our late twenties and that devastating event led me to become a Samaritan ….. learning active listening skills, to be non judgemental and calm has definitely made me a better person.

When did your life change for the better?

When I was 18 and woke up in hospital after a motorbike accident that nearly killed me ….  It put everything in to perspective and made me realise that life is very precious and we should value and cherish every day. I was very lucky to be alive and am lucky to be alive!!

More recently life changed for the better when we got a kitten! After 30 years of having older rescue cats we finally got a kitten and he has filled our lives with joy … …. The joy of a cat up a Christmas tree …. Highly recommended!!

Who do you most respect in your work or home life and why?

Crikey! I try to respect everyone but recently the pandemic has made me really respect those who work in our care homes, our hospitals, on the transport network, in housing (I have to say that!), in retail …. In short the key workers who have kept things going and who have cared for us in different ways.

Also our volunteers … I loved working with our volunteers when I worked with Mid Cheshire CRP, they give their time freely and make such a difference.

What are your success habits?

Being proactive, being conscientious, giving to others what you want to receive back … trying to go the extra mile and never asking a volunteer to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do. Making the most of every day of course. And having pets …. Keeps you focussed and keeps you humble ….  I have been well trained by the cats to respond to their every need!!

Head of Stakeholder and Community, London Northwestern Railway

Vicky started her career on the railway as a receptionist & PA, she worked her way up to Head of Stakeholder and Community at London Northwestern Railway and became part of the WiCR Steering Group which created WiCR’s Code of Conduct that has been recognised and adopted by DfT, Network Rail and many other CRP and station adoption groups.

We asked Vicky…..
What is the biggest factor that has helped you be successful?
I’ve had the privilege of working with some incredibly inspiring people on the railway. They’ve all taught me something different and I’ve been able to take something from them, which is why I am where I am today, doing a job which offers so much variety and progression. Growing up my mum and dad ran a family pub, restaurant and hotel, it’s a very tough industry and living on site meant that they were both up at the crack of dawn cooking breakfast for the hotel guests and late to bed after they’d locked up. So, I didn’t get to see much of them because they were always working, and it was hard for them to separate work and home life. What I did learn from them was the importance of putting your all into everything and in the end hard work does pay off…and if it doesn’t the pub is the best place to drown your sorrows!!
What was the hardest decision you ever had to make?
In 2017 I left London, where I had been living for the past 15 years and started a new life back in Cheshire. At the time it was a gut wrenching decision, not only was I leaving a city I had called home for half my life but I absolutely loved my job and I was also surrounded by the dearest friends any girl could want. It was the uncertainty of starting a new job in a company that I didn’t know much about, moving back home where I wasn’t in contact with any of my childhood friends and living with my parents again after such a long time of independence and freedom which made the decision very daunting and pretty scary. But looking back, it was probably the best decision I have ever made, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t made that leap of faith.
What motivates you to get up and start work on a bad day?
Good question and this one really got me thinking as I’m a more optimist type of person and don’t struggle getting out of bed and starting the day in a positive way. In this job every day is different, so the variety of projects and people really keep me going. If I have had a bad day, I find it hard to focus on other things, hide it from colleagues and I will usually bring it home with me. Having a husband who has no interest in the industry is a real bonus as I can talk things through with him, which helps and gives me a different perspective on the matter.
What is your personal heaven?
A day at the spa – dressed in a fluffy robe, eating strawberries or chocolate with a glass of fizz, wandering from the swimming pool, to the sauna, to the steam room and being treated to a treatment. Pure bliss.