Lindsay Marshall

Said the following about Anne Mason:

“• Northern’s Anne Mason went above and beyond in her role as Retail Sales Assistant at Bredbury Station to ensure the safety of a teenage customer on 16 March 2017.

• The 14 year-old teenager’s arrival alone at the station at 6.30 am and his request for a one-way ticket raised concerns with Anne about the teenagers travel intentions and safety. This prompted Anne to engage with the teenager before issuing a ticket.

• Questioning the teenager with sensitivity, the customer felt confident enough to confide his intentions to run away from home and meet with an individual he had been communicating with through an online forum.

• Recognising the gravity of the situation, Anne acted immediately and persuaded the teenager to let her call his parents who quickly came to collect their son.

• While it has since been determined the teenager had been corresponding with another teenager, Anne’s alertness to the situation and her subsequent response potentially averted an extremely serious incident.

As a Retail Sales Assistant, Anne’s role requires her to ensure customers have practical and helpful advice on journey times and to demonstrate a genuine commitment to delivering excellent customer service. However, Anne’s actions on the day take this beyond her role requirements and demonstrate:

• her alertness to an unusual travel request – an unaccompanied minor, travelling early in the morning, carrying a bag;

• her decision to dig deeper and find out more without causing distress;

• her ability to build a rapport with the teenager and gain his trust; and

• her decisiveness in responding the situation at hand – offering two choices to the customer – that she phone the police, or provides a number for his parents so she could call them.

Anne’s actions are testament to her twenty-three years’ experience and her passion for her role.

Anne’s actions have been recognised by the teenager’s father, who wrote to Northern expressing his gratitude.

In his letter, the father writes: “…had it not been for Anne’s swift actions who knows what might have happened, especially if my son had boarded that train and reached his destination.”

He adds:

“I feel that we are often quick to contact an organisation to express our disappointment if a service or product is not to our satisfaction, however, equally we can often be just as guilty of not highlighting exemplary service when it happens.

“I would certainly like it to be known that last Thursday Anne went beyond the call of duty in what she did and my family and I will be eternally grateful for her swift actions.”“