The RailStaff Awards 2024

Danny Matthews

Great Western Railway

Previous Next Nominate

Nominations for Graduate of the Year

Ashley McKenna

Said the following about Danny Matthews:

“Danny joined FirstGroup in May 2016 as an Operations Management Graduate, he left work with PwC where he was a successful forensic analyst, as he wanted a role that had more variety and interaction with others as well as being part of an evolving industry. He made the right choice with the Railway!

Shortly after joining Danny was being noticed for not only getting things done quickly but also to a high standard; understandably this reputation meant that he was sought after in quite a few analytical positions but true to the change in career Danny focused more on the customer centric roles including Stations and Traincrew Management. Within each placement he took time to understand the people within the teams and contributed, where possible, to improvements in processes. From this Danny was invited to join FirstGroup’s bid team for the SWR mobilisation period. In this role he successfully developed and managed the Franchise Delivery Plan for 5000+ employees and stakeholders and this work was extremely well received, with the final result it being presented to key stakeholders including the Minister of Transport.

An opportunity presented itself within the last year where he was able to work with the Head of Security at GWR. During his time in this placement he managed to coordinate successful and productive audits of multiple stations and every GWR depot covering the entirety of the GWR network and all within a few months; an impressive effort considering the initial limited knowledge of the area. These audits have helped improve the safety and security of not only GWR staff but our customers who use our services day in day out. Danny also helped organise the extremely successful Conflict Avoidance training that is now being delivered to GWR staff. As will have been experienced by any who have worked in compliance, success is attained by strong people skills and the ability to influence – not easy when assessing staff with 30 more years’ experience than yourself.

As with most schemes the placements come thick and fast and the next opportunity came in the Performance team – as most of us know performance on the railway has been a challenge, not least on the Great Western network where the operation has been likened to performing open heart surgery on a person running a marathon. Danny was tasked with stress testing software which helps provide fleet and network wide analytics to inform areas of performance improvement on Western Route. He also put together the implementation plan of how this new piece of technology will now be taken forward to change the way we approach performance analysis at GWR in the future. The testing and subsequent business case for funding approval was signed off; GWR now has a dedicated resource using this software.

Although Danny was offered a full-time position in the Performance team he rebuffed in an effort to demonstrate his commitment to a role which offered a more customer facing focus. On the first attempt Danny was successful in becoming Station Manager at Bristol Parkway. At the time Electrification work had completely disrupted all train services meaning a large-scale rail replacement service was needed. Danny had used the opportunity from previous placements to build rapport with the team so mobilising a critical mass and gaining support for the RRS plan was a simple process. The blockade ran for three weeks with a clean safety record and with no notable disruption. He has taken on this role and hit the ground running taking on an important role as a young manager, building relationships quickly and leading a team coming from a transitional period.

Finally, although the above demonstrates Danny’s capability and commitment to the roles he has been in I don’t believe this is quite enough to be considered Graduate of the Year. What separates Danny from others who simply work hard is what he has achieved whilst transitioning from the scheme into a full-time position. Danny was nominated Chair of the Young Rail Professionals, Western Region. Through time commitment, influencing skills and a propensity to build a ‘team’ culture he has amassed a 13-strong committee focused on growing the region’s membership and providing a plethora of events which include networking and speaking events as well as development workshops. Danny’s enthusiasm and commitment has led to him attracting a team that holds the same values. This has led the Western Region to becoming more successful than it has ever been – with event numbers, participation, diversity and innovation increasing. The National Committee have commented on the Western Region being the ‘Success Story’ of YRP since this Committee has been formed, and it continues to drive forward collaboration and innovative thinking. Danny has managed to enthuse the team to support Rail Week with events which include a Train Simulator visit, Signalling Centre tour, Bristol Temple Meads tunnel tour and an employability workshop. Danny has been part of the YRP for two years now and his drive and commitment has seen it grow into what it is today.

At FirstGroup we have 5 values, Dedicated to Safety, Accountable for Performance, Supportive of Each Other, Committed to Customers and Setting the Highest Standards. I hope it is clear from what is written above that Danny meets each of these values and embodies not only what FirstGroup aspires to attain from their Graduates but also what all employers would want from their colleagues.“