GB Railfreight celebrated a successful night at Thursday’s (17 September) National Rail Awards with the company taking home two awards and receiving special mentions for two others.
The team scooped the ‘Great Place to Work’ award recognising the business’s reputation as a great employer and the rollout of the ‘Wellbeing Champion’ Mental Health Concept across GBRf.
Former GBRf employee Chris Hopcroft MBE was awarded the outstanding personal contribution award, to mark a 60-year career on the railway and a commitment not just to the railway, but to the community, with a particular focus on educating young people on rail safety.
Chris provided outstanding dedication in all his roles, most recently as one of GBRf’s Train Managers. His passion for, and service to, the railways was recognised in 1994 with an MBE for services to the safety of young people.
GBRf were also highly commended in the Freight and Logistics category for their impressive 2019 performance which saw them maintain value for money for customers by increasing efficiency despite increasing operating costs as well as the expansion of their intermodal service, with four new services having been launched last year.
A special mention was given to Paul Taylor in the Oustanding Personal Contribution category. Paul, a GB Railfreight General Manager, has worked on the railways for over thirty years and for over a decade has been running Charity Tours which have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds.
GBRf Managing Director John Smith said:
“Our success at the National Rail Awards underlines what a great team GBRf has and the amazing work they do with our customers and partners.
“To be recognised by the National Rail Awards for being a great place to work means a lot to me, having founded this company over twenty years ago and having always tried to foster a great team spirit throughout the business. I am so proud of the GBRf family.
“I am also delighted for being commended for our 2019 performance. Last year was an incredibly strong year for GBRf, continuing the success story of the previous year by winning more business and retaining highly valued customers. GBRf has delivered not only growth but also consumer choice in the market with a further four Intermodal services starting in 2019 from major deep-sea UK Ports.
“I was particularly proud of the final award for outstanding personal contribution. This was given to our own, recently retired, Train Manager Chris Hopcroft MBE following his 60 years of service to the industry. As well as the special mention to Paul Taylor a highly regarded and much-loved member of the GB Railfreight team who has worked on the railways for over three decades.”
“Engagement with the communities we operate in has ways been something that GBRf believes is important. In 2019 the team raised a staggering £185,000 for charity through a number of team-wide initiatives.”
