Paul Brown

Said the following about Grace Hayward:

“Since joining as a graduate, Grace has proven herself as a rising star in the industry through her proactivity and determination to make a difference. Having only worked within the industry for 18 months, her work to increase safety in the Freight division has been both invaluable and innovative, and has helped to shape the future of Freight within Colas Rail. Faced with resistance from those around her, Grace has never given up her efforts and has remained focused on building knowledge from those on the ground to ensure she better understands where improvements are required, using her enthusiasm and infectious energy to then successfully influence behavioural change in those around her.

Determined to reduce the skills gap within the industry and increase diversity, Grace often talks to future engineers and students at schools and universities about her journey from being a Chemical Engineering graduate to an Assistant Project Manager. She has been actively involved in a Rail Freight Operations group whose aim is to improve knowledge sharing within the industry, and champions Women in Work through being an active member with the YRP and Women in Rail.

Grace’s proactivity has led to her undertaking new challenges such as trailblazing an international work programme, which has led to the sharing of best practice across the world. This innovative work has seen us improve the way we work in both the UK and overseas, generating efficiencies and laying the foundations to secure the future of urban rail in the UK. Grace has continuously taken opportunities to develop her skills both inside and outside the workplace, from taking the initiative to learn a new language to support her international work, to her work to develop an urban rail blog, which shares the technical knowledge that she gained whilst abroad. Currently Grace is employed on the Birmingham Tram Project where she has been employed for the previous 16 months. She has shown that she has excellent management skills that will surely take her to great heights within the industry. Grace has always been prepared to go beyond her normal duties to ensure she gets the best results from her team. Great team player with a great future.“