Career Development
With so many roles in our organisation, there’s always the opportunity to try something new. At First Great Western, we’re committed to equipping you with the skills you need to progress. To illustrate this, we talked to Steve Bailey, our Head of Operations. His story shows how far you can go and reflects our forward-thinking approach to career development.
“I joined British Rail in October 1979 as a catering steward and worked on high speed and loco-hauled trains across the Western Region, North of England and Scotland. This work saw me offering silver service in dining cars and taking on cooking duties on buffet-only services.
Then, in 1984 I was appointed as Traction Trainee and then a Drivers Assistant at Bristol, Bath Road. By 1986 I was Train Driver. I drove all types of trains, from express and local passengers to heavy stone and mixed freight. I also carried out a number of associated roles including minder driver, tutor driver and deputy standards manager.
My first management position was in November 1998 as a Standards Manager based at Bristol. Here I managed and assessed Drivers, Train Managers and Platform colleagues. I then progressed to become the FGW Training Centre Manager in May 2000. My role was to deliver the company’s safety critical training programmes, route school and driver simulators.
In May 2004, a reorganisation within the business saw me appointed to the position of Head of (Operational) Competence. I became responsible for the operational competence of around 1,500 drivers, guards, train dispatch and Ops managers.
For a short period of time I covered the role of Head of Drivers. After the Greater Western Franchise in 2006, I was appointed as a Regional Traincrew Manager. This gave me line management of approximately 650 Drivers, Guards and Catering grades in Bristol, Gloucester and South Wales.
The latest round of reorganisations has seen me take on the roles of Head of Operational Training and Head of Operations, my current position.”