Avanti West Coast’s Employee Director LIZZIE POWER talks to PHILIP SHERRATT about her new role representing her frontline colleagues in the boardroom
It is often suggested that senior management in the boardroom are disconnected from staff working on the frontline. FirstGroup has sought to remedy that by electing Employee Directors – members of frontline staff who represent their colleagues at board meetings. The role is a feature of all FirstGroup’s rail businesses, with Employee Directors at Great Western Railway, South Western Railway and TransPennine Express. With FirstGroup taking over the West Coast franchise last December in a 70:30 joint venture with Trenitalia, the company has now joined its sister operators in electing its own Employee Director.