Pete Little

Said the following about Stuart Keith:

“Stuart has been the Senior Driver Manager at Bristol for 10 months, turning the depot around with all staff. Bringing together a team of managers and over 200 drivers. Stuart goes above and beyond the role of an SDM not only managing, but developing and guiding his staff where ever he can. He will help wherever he is needed and drives the depot and the team forward as one. Stuart is a product of the First Group graduate scheme and his good work and dedication is an excellent advocate of the scheme.“

David Kipling

Said the following about Stuart Keith:

“Stuart Keith, Senior Driver Manager, has been leading Bristol Depot since August 2015 and within the last year he has left a lasting impact, not only on myself, but the collective management team. Bristol Depot, has over 200 drivers with a compliment of 13 managers including myself; this in itself represents a myriad of challenges however they are only compounded and complicated through the revolutionary changes taking place on the Great Western Railway. Through it increasing workforce and change in traction operated to mention a few. Since beginning the role he has proven himself to be a manager that will lead from the front, getting involved in all aspects of the job and positively reinforcing good-work done by those within his team. Having a firm belief in empowerment, he utilises the expert resources that exist within his team, requesting advice and input to better motivate those that surround him. Similarly, he has encouraged management to recognise ‘best practice’ and reward those drivers that exhibit it. Through the introduction of team days and adoption of ‘area champions’ he has galvanised the management team in Bristol; equipping it to competently and effectively meet any challenge the depot faces. This has created and enforced a strong sense of pride and identity within the management team. The positive work he has done with the individual managers at Bristol has undoubtedly cascaded down to the drivers and led to the numerous positive results seen within the depot. To mention a few:

1. Safety Improvement: AWS slow to cancels reducing from 7 in 2015 to 0, Stop shorts reducing from 7 to 0 and TPWS activations be it against a red or other form, reducing from 6 to 0 this year.

2. Trainee Hours Reduction: Has seen a reduction in over 150 hours and 150 days required to pass-out a trainee driver.

3. Downward Trend in Sickness and Unavailability Figures

4. Route learning: Reduction in total number of routes outstanding creating more efficient links.

Stuart has been a pleasure to work with throughout my period as a Driver Manager and has set what I believe to be the standard for the industry. I look forward to continued success within the Bristol Driver Management Team and hope that his hard-work and achievements will be recognised through this prestigious award.“