Izzy Glancey named Young Rail Freight Professional at RFG Awards 2023
We are delighted that administration assistant, Izzy Glancey has been named Young Rail Freight Professional at this year’s prestigious RFG Awards.
This category recognises the importance to the industry of encouraging and helping to develop its newest staff, who have recently entered the industry and have made an outstanding contribution.
Izzy began her journey with Victa Railfreight in 2017, when at the age of 17, she joined the company as an apprentice business administrator. She had previously been part-way through studying for her A’ levels in media, film and finance, but decided that college wasn’t for her, and she was excited to enter the world of work.
When Izzy first joined Victa Railfreight, she was quite nervous, but over the last five years she has absolutely flourished and has become the business ‘go to’ person and a very valuable member of our team.
In fact, we were so impressed by Izzy’s accuracy and data inputting skills that when she completed her one-year apprenticeship, we offered her a full-time position in the company as operations assistant.
The business administration function is absolutely critical in the success of any rail company, without the back office teams the railway wouldn’t run! Izzy is a great all-rounder and goes the extra mile. She has developed a fantastic IT based system that we call VERA (Victa’s Electronic Rail Assessment tool).
Izzy inputs all our data into VERA including details such as the date staff joined the company, dates of assessments undertaken and when they are next due. This information is sent weekly to employees and their team leaders. The reports also include information about location visits, driver assessments, forthcoming PTS courses and when medicals are due.
When VERA had a system update four years ago, Izzy took charge of inputting all the new data and has taken responsibility for keeping it updated ever since. It is very much her baby, and she has become invaluable to us in getting comprehensive data reports out to the wider business every week.
Nothing is too much trouble for Izzy, she listens, is eager to learn and is a forward thinker.
In her thirst to gain an all-round knowledge and experience of the industry, alongside her work with VERA, Izzy also maintains SharePoint, takes charge of timesheets, booking staff travel and accommodation and overseeing maintenance logs of our road vehicles. Her important work also encompasses safety administration and winter planning.
Izzy said:“My working day is always varied. One day I will be providing the administration for the rail safety awareness courses that we run and the next I can be booking hotels for people on overnight work trips or helping with the administration for train driver route planning or shunting operations.
“But most days you’ll find me working on VERA where I also input all the assessment information and personnel competencies. Every Monday I send out business information reports to our team leaders, drawn down from the information I’ve inputted into VERA from the previous week.
“I love data input, so I enjoy working on VERA, but I’ve also got a much better understanding of the rail industry, such as all the different locations and terminals that Victa works with. I have also completed my PTS course so I’m able to accompany the team out and about on the frontline to see our operations first hand!”
At Victa Railfreight we take great pride in the role that we can play to bring future generations into the rail industry. It’s not just about training them; it’s about giving them life skills too. Izzy has recently begun a CIPD Level 1 course in an ‘Introduction to HR’ so that she is able to work more closely with this department as she continues to build her skill set. “I’d like to stay in rail as a career choice and carry on my progression with Victa Railfreight,” she said.
“I have some good friends who work in rail, and you can see that more younger people are starting to choose it as a career path now, which is great. People think it’s just like a boys’ job but it’s not and it’s also not just about the railway!”
Rob McKittrick, Safety & Compliance Manager said: “Izzy is a credit to her generation and with her support, I’m convinced that both the Operations and Safety Teams within Victa Railfreight are in a much stronger position.
“From a ‘wide eyed’ teenager, just leaving school to a skilled, mature individual, Izzy is an integral part of our organisation. She has been prepared to learn, and most importantly, listen to what is being said and adopt the skills she has developed during her training into making the role she is aligned such a success it is today. Always positive, committed and enthusiastic, Izzy can always be relied upon, she has grown in confidence and knowledge, becoming a well-respected member of our team here at Victa Railfreight.”
Debbie Simmons, Contracts & Resources Manager added:“Izzy has shown that with determination, dedication and diligence, anything is possible! As a person she has overcome challenges and self-doubt, to become a confident young lady, prepared to go out and challenge others, within her working environment. It has been a pleasure to be part of her journey at the start of her career, and she will always have my support and encouragement as she progresses.
Chris Barrow, Operations Manager, South said: “When Izzy joined Victa back in 2017, she was a quiet and nervous teenager, now she has grown in confidence and is a vital member of the company... the glue holding us together! She has transformed the record keeping for the company and brought us a lot further forward than we had been before.
“VERA (our record keeping system) was developed from scratch by Izzy, converting thousands of pieces of information from various paper-based systems to one central system that we can get real-time data from. She created our digitalised operations safety files for all staff who hold an operational competency within Victa, this has made our competency management system so much easier to keep up to date for the staff out in the field. Izzy is popular with staff and customers, whether it's her buoyant personality or ability to know the answer to a question very quickly, she's a star!”
We are very proud of Izzy and we can’t wait to see what she achieves next.
Photos: Phil Goodson at @PhotosSimply
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