Richard Beadle

Said the following about Matt Walker:

“Financial and Operational Systems Project Manager, Matt Walker is the unsung hero at Freightliner – always willing and able to help colleagues throughout the organisation whilst successfully delivering a major new finance system within budget and on time!

In the 14 years since Matt Walker joined Freightliner, he has provided unwavering support in managing and maintaining Freightliner’s finance function from a systems perspective and is always available to help and advise colleagues at all levels, despite the complexities and pressures of his role.

On top of his already demanding role, around 12 months ago, Matt was required to lead the implementation of a completely new finance system – Great Plains - in line with corporate standards. Freightliner’s existing system had become outdated and unfit for purpose and it was necessary to replace it with a system that had the same level of controls as that of our US parent company – Genesee & Wyoming (G&W), bringing Freightliner in line with corporate expectations.

As well as becoming an expert on the new Great Plains system, this pivotal project involved Matt creating a detailed project plan, bringing finance teams together, managing numerous shareholders, leading training across the country and providing first line support which is still on-going. All of this was achieved within budget and strict deadlines.

It is also worth noting that during this period, Matt also led a key project to deliver a replacement Intermodal billing system – FLEC.

Matt’s dedication to the Great Plains project never wavered, even when, a couple of months before the ‘go live’ date, Matt sadly lost his father he didn’t skip a beat and continued to deliver for the company.

For his never-ending commitment and fantastic contribution to the successful implementation of Great Plains across all Freightliner UK entities, Matt is a very worthy nominee for the Project Manager of the Year award. Matt worked tirelessly, with long hours and his never say die attitude, both should be applauded and fully recognised.

Freightliner HR Director said: “Matt always goes the extra mile and, irrespective of the challenges he faces on various projects, is always solutions driven and approaches challenges from a positive perspective"“

Robyn Nixon

Said the following about Matt Walker:

“I would like to nominate Matt Walker for the RailStaff Awards. Matt was responsible for the implementation of the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system throughout the Freightliner group, which involved working with employees throughout the UK in various physical locations and spanning over all functional areas of the company. The project involved coordinating all employees throughout the company for a complete conversion to a new ERP software system.

As an outside vendor, I have had the experience of working with many companies throughout different industries. Matt Walker’s performance during the Freightliner Great Plains Implementation was nothing less than outstanding. There could not be another person more deserving of being recognised. I had the pleasure of working closely with Matt over a 2 year period in preparing for and implementation of the new ERP system.

In his role as Project Manager, Matt was instrumental in dealing with the technical aspects of moving a business to a new software environment. However, more importantly, he expertly handled issues surrounding change management within the organization and was able to inspire and motivate the staff which directly affected the success of the project. Matt’s attention to detail regarding employee issues and empathising with their perspectives allowed for our team to provide solutions which enhanced the overall application and at the end of the day, made for a very positive environment during what for some companies is a most stressful time.

Matt demonstrated excellent communication skills with both upper management in keeping all informed as to the progress and issues, as well as with employees throughout the company, at different locations and at all levels. He was the direct contact for the staff throughout the implementation period, and these requests and issues had particularly high volumes in the weeks leading up to go live, and for approximately 6 weeks after go live.

Matt also put in extra hours throughout the project and especially during the last phase (go live and post go live) and made himself available for anyone who had concerns or issues. Because of his efforts, the company was able to accomplish a seamless transfer onto the new system with little to no disruption to the daily business operations.

In addition to the management and support to all of the Freightliner staff, he also provided outside teams with detailed feedback and responses to design requests. There were approximately 4 different outside teams associated with the project, and Matt worked with all of the teams in mapping out solutions which often involved Matt being required to work late into the evening and/or over the weekends.

Overall, this project was considered a major success, and was largely due to Matt’s dedication and diligence. I offer my fullest endorsement of Matt being recognised for this prestigious award.“