HomeEventsA multi-disciplinary, multi-talented bunch

A multi-disciplinary, multi-talented bunch

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The majority of people in the UK will benefit from at least one Amey service every day, says the company’s business director for the North, Richard Walker.

Richard was astonished by that fact when he joined the company a few months ago from Network Rail. Amey is Network Rail’s second- biggest supplier and heavily involved in the rail sector, but the extent of its reach will surprise many. The list of sectors the business serves vary from power, water and gas to healthcare, environmental services like waste collection and treatment, facilities management and social justice, which can include activities as diverse as running offender rehabilitation schemes or escorting criminals to prison.

Amey, which employs more than 21,000 people nationwide, currently holds Network Rail signalling, electrification and track framework contracts and is involved in the electrification of the Great Western Main Line. As well as its design and consultancy services division, Amey looks after more than 100,000 Network Rail assets as part of its civils examination framework contract. Only recently, the company was also named as a member of the construction alliance which will deliver Manchester’s Ordsall Chord.

Celebrating staff achievement is one of the company’s central tenets, says Richard, and so this year Amey is sponsoring the Rail Plant and Equipment Person or Team of the Year category at the RailStaff Awards to celebrate those who operate the big yellow plant which works around the network day and night.

Efforts and energies

‘It’s lovely to be nominated, it’s lovely to be recognised for what you do and for me the awards are about thanking people for their efforts and their energies to make the railway a better place to work; I think it’s absolutely spot on,’ says Richard, who has himself been nominated for an award in the past.

Attracting and retaining people is essential to any business and finding ways to salute their efforts is part of that. Richard continued, ‘As a business, we’re trying to recruit the right people and these kind of awards are absolutely complementary to getting the right people in our industry. There’s no better way of keeping people with you if you thank them for what they do and recognise their hard work.’

The Rail Plant and Equipment Person or Team of the Year Award was first introduced in 2015. Network Rail’s High Output transition team, which successfully transferred over 507 staff members when Network Rail decided to move the delivery of High Output Track Renewals (HOTR) in-house, won the first ever award. The transition itself was big news, but it was the first real praise to be heaped on the team that ensured it went smoothly.

Richard says he has seen how for some people the awards had ‘really kicked their careers on’.

‘It does raise team morale, it does raise team performance and it does get people thinking about their own personal development and what more they can do, what more they want to do.’

Biggest, best and brightest

‘For me they just take a whole cross section of the people that actually run the railway and recognise people’s personal input and commitment to the industry,’ says Richard, when asked for his thoughts on the ethos behind the RailStaff Awards.

‘I do like the variety and the background and also it’s good to see what other people are doing and other new ideas.’

Visit www.railstaffawards.com/nominate and make someone’s year!

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