Case studies: Current operations manager: Nick Westcott

Nick has a BSc (Hons) Transport and Business Management from Loughborough University and a Diploma in Industrial Studies. He works as a current operations manager for FirstGroup’s Rail Division in London.

I first started working for First as a bus driver in my home county of Devon during the university holidays. During my placement year at university I worked for a large train company in the Midlands where I gained some really good experience. I really enjoyed working for First so I applied to the FirstGroup Graduate Recruitment Scheme before I left university. I gained a place and was allocated to a company within the rail division, where I was taught everything I needed to know to competently run a train service, including learning how to drive trains. This gave me invaluable experience and helped to fast track me to my current role.

My degree from Loughborough University  was wholly appropriate to the job I currently do and taught me about the business and people side of the industry I work in, rather than being too specific in operations. I certainly use the theory side for people management in my day-to-day work. However, a transport degree is not essential for entry to the sector - it’s more about the experience you have and your attitude towards people.

There is no such thing as a typical day for me. I manage 20 members of staff who control and manage the minute-by-minute operation of the railway. Generally speaking, I get in the office for 8am, check how the morning peak is operating and review any incidents or issues from the previous day. I will try and get out on the route as much as possible to meet with colleagues and get to the root of any problems we may be having. I enjoy the people side of my job the most. Managing and working with people, although at times rather challenging, is also very rewarding. Our business is essentially moving people and so you definitely need to be a people person to work in this industry. The most challenging aspect can often be during service disruption, when there is a lot of pressure to keep passengers moving and informed with what’s going on.

In the future, I would like to gain further experience of managing train crew, with a longer term ambition of one day becoming an operations director of a train operating company.

I love working in this industry and wouldn’t swap it for anything else. It’s an industry in which people are passionate about what they do, and the railway is like a big community, no matter which company you work for. The best way to start a career is by gaining work experience of working with people - it doesn’t matter whether you wish to work in operations, customer service, engineering or commercial departments, you must be able to demonstrate that you can work as part of a team. The best thing to remember is that good experience counts for as much as a good qualification in the transport industry.