Building GCRE from the ground up…
By Kelly Warburton – Chief Commercial Officer, GCRE Ltd
One of the most important things that I’ve learned in the more than two decades that I have worked in rail is that it’s our people that make the industry so special. The individuals at the heart of UK rail are some of the most committed, most creative and most talented in any sector of the economy.
And on International Women’s Day its right to pay tribute to the fantastic females we work with and alongside – and who make rail such a great place to work in. The committed and talented individuals that help run the national network; that keep it safe and who help passengers get to where they need on time.
In my time, I’ve been extremely fortunate to work with many great women; individuals committed to building a stronger future for the industry and who have taught me so much. Perhaps one of the most interesting things that I’ve learned from those women are the values and the imprint they have left on the organisations they work in or lead.
All the great female leaders and role models that I have worked with and looked up to over the years have grown themselves, their companies and led their teams with a clear set of values. Their principles of equality, inclusion, respect and integrity have defined how they lead, with that approach permeating their roles, their departments and their businesses. It’s one of the most powerful lessons I’ve taken from the great individuals I’ve worked with and it’s something that I’ve taken into my own career.
I see the same commitment and values-led approach in the team I work with here at the Global Centre of Rail Excellence. Across the business, we have talented, experienced and creative female leaders – from our brilliant Chair Prof. Debra Williams, to our amazingly talented team of Chief Financial Officer Sam Hawkins, Executive Assistant Jo Evans, Financial Controller Clare Byrne, Head of Procurement and Contracts Tamara Evans, our Risk and Compliance Manager Holly Machin, and GCRE Non-Executive Director Gail Hawthorne.
These are individuals I genuinely love working with and who – in doing their jobs so well – also bring their own strong set of core values and unique imprint to the roles they play across the organisation, making GCRE in turn stronger and more effective as a result.
For me I want GCRE to continue in that same spirit. We are one of a number of companies in the industry working for positive change. As a new start-up we have the potential to build our business from the ground up and in a way that builds greater diversity in from the beginning.
We’re embedding the work of change into the very DNA of GCRE by signing up to the Rail Industry Association’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion charter and within our senior leadership team, have appointed an EDI Champion. With 50% of the GCRE board female, and being led by a female chair, this is an agenda that’s being led from the very top.
Next week we will take part in a major celebration event near to the GCRE site as we see the results of a project we’ve funded with the not-for-profit group, Primary Engineer, which has been running a programme in local schools to help get young people interested in engineering and GCRE. At the same time its designed to help encourage a more diverse range of people into rail. For us at GCRE, building for the future can’t start early enough.
All that work is important because despite its strengths rail still has a diversity challenge. In 2024 it still doesn’t fully reflect the customers and the economy it serves. Work undertaken by NSAR shows that despite recent progress, the proportion of women in the UK rail workforce is still just 16.3%.
We know that diversity is good for business because the evidence is overwhelming. A study by the Boston Consulting Group found that companies that reported above-average diversity on their management teams also reported innovation revenue that was 19 percentage points higher than that of companies with below-average leadership diversity. For a company like GCRE, diversity is not only a moral imperative it’s a commercial one, too.
Rail needs to do more to attract and retain a wider and more diverse range of people to build its future. It needs to think and plan more for the next generation. There are great leaders and talented women in the UK rail industry at all levels – the issue is that we need more of them.
But that work starts with recognising the fabulous female talent we have in the industry. So on International Women’s Day 2024 I want to pay tribute to all the brilliant women that I work with both past and present and who are such great role models for the next generation.