Carys Thomas

Said the following about Jake Falcon:

“Great Western Railway (GWR) is one of the biggest rail franchises in the UK, part of the First Group of companies, operating the Western network since 1996, rebranding ourselves as GWR in 2015. We employ over 6000 people across our network and we carry more than one and a half million customers over two million single journeys on 10,000 services every week. People are at the heart of our business and our ethos is that we are 'greater together'.

It’s difficult to write a single nomination for Jake as he excels as a leader in each category. His willing ‘can do’ attitude and drive is exemplary, and he actively engages with a number of GWR groups and stakeholders to provide excellent service to both customers and staff. There’s never a task too big or small and he will always be on hand to assist you in any way possible. Jake has played a large part in the inclusion and diversity group, primarily in relation to the re-formed LGBTQ+ group. As well as attending workshops and Stonewall meetings, locally he has inspired a movement that’s radiated across the company.

This nomination concerns the work Jake was doing whilst a Customer Ambassador at Bristol Temple Meads station during 2018, he has since moved on into a new role in our social media team. This nomination resulted in Jake winning an award at our Excellence Awards 2019 (GWR’s highlight of the year for colleague recognition, a red carpet event), and we feel that it deserves external recognition at this year’s RailStaff Awards.

At Bristol Pride Jake decorated Temple Meads and handed out branded water (which he created pride labels for), lollies and branded wallets. In addition to this following a negative anti-trans campaign, he created posters which welcomed all LGBTQ+ groups and was recognised and praised by the leading trans community groups. Throughout all Prides, Jake was active on social media, responding to customer comments and recognising the work being done across the company. Including the brilliant #trainbow movement started by the marketing and comms teams. He was also seen representing GWR at a number of Prides, marching alongside Network Rail colleagues. His work hasn’t ended there, he still plays an active part in the LGBTQ+ group and is currently one of a handful of people handling GWR pride lanyards, where the group hope to raise a minimum of £18,000 for the Alex Higgins Trust.

Anonymous as Bristol Ambassadors to the public, Jake led on the local Twitter account, providing updates on what’s going on around the station, namely disruption information and good news stories. Even when not at work, he went out of his way to inform the public by sharing key information on how customers could find alternative journeys and be informed.

Not only did he post about disruption, he always responded to any queries and shared positive comments with staff via the reward and recognition board he set up.

Exemplar is a program that’s been trialled by a number of stations within the Central region, Bristol Temple Meads being one of them. Not only did Jake take an active part in promoting Exemplar, he led on the 6S program, working with the ticket office to better their processes, which also involved taking the team to Huddersfield to learn and share best practice. His work did not end there, Jake was crucial to the completion of the Exemplar program at Temple Meads, requesting weekly updates and setting the team targets for completion. He designed the KPI boards at BRI working with management to ensure they fitted their needs. Temple Meads has since completed their program and are awaiting assessment. He was also nominated to assist a number of stations in setting up their programs and driving completion.

Disruption is something Bristol has come to know as normality and the team always respond with positivity and muster. Whenever there is disruption, there was Jake. Whether it was during shift or in his spare time, he was always willing to assist for the betterment of our staff and our customers.

He’s made it through BASRE, Snow, RRS, Tunnel and Beach line closures to name a few. On countless occasions, I’ve witnessed him don a high-vis whilst on route to offer any assistance he can. During the heavy snowfall last winter, Jake worked well over his scheduled hours to assist the station. Not only did he help out but he provided shelter to seven stranded staff at his home, even giving up his own bed for the cause. He was still found at work the very next day. Following a large period of disruption, the team felt the need to review our disruption plans and held a workshop to gather staff thoughts on what should be included. Jake gathered these ideas and thoughts, processed them and took to re-writing our disruption plans to reflect what had been discussed. Wanting to fully commit to his role, he wrote the plan within his own time, working to get a draft together in a very short time-frame. His drawn-up command structure has been shared as best practice with other stations undergoing review.

Jake’s also been the station lead for Information Technology taking it upon himself to issue equipment to staff and teach them how to use them. He took time to do so on a 1-1 basis, spending several hours with each staff member to ensure they understand how to use varied apps. He laos built a training program for users who struggled to use their phones.

Working with the trade unions, Jake often stepped in to assist in the coordinators role making station announcements and recording delays, attempting to give staff as much information as possible.

Jake took the lead on a number of local work experience programs, designing shadowing rotations for individuals who express an interest in joining the railway industry. Working with the DSM team, he ensured a meet and greet from management at the beginning of each program and that they were presented with a certificate of completion at the end of their program.

Jake is a driven individual who goes above and beyond in all his roles. He is pinnacle to driving company standards forward and ensuring inclusivity on all fronts.

Positive praise towards Jake comes daily from customers, staff and stakeholders. It's difficult to quantify here. His colleagues describe him as willing and engaging, always stepping in when and where needed. Customers praise his kind demeanour and praise for his comments on social media are tenfold.“