Louis Szymanski of D2 Rail proudly took home the prize for Graduate or Newcomer of the Year at last Thursday’s RailStaff Awards. Since joining D2 Rail in August 2020, he has made a significant contribution to the business and to the wider industry.
Colleagues say Louis has made himself an integral part of both the D2 Rail Project Controls Team and the TransPennine Route Upgrade (TRU) West Alliance Planning & Controls Team.
Louis proved in a very short space of time that he is an extremely competent and adaptable professional with incredible people skills and emotional intelligence. He proactively seeks out opportunities to extend his own professional development into other areas and impresses colleagues with his dedication, compassion, and professionalism.
On top of this, Louis also founded the Equality Diversity and Inclusion group at D2 Rail, and volunteers on the TRU West Equality Diversity and Inclusion group as an ED&I Champion. His goal is to help make strides in equality, diversity, and inclusion within the industry.
Speaking of his achievement, Louis thanked his company for offering him the opportunity to succeed.
“I feel very privileged to win the Graduate or Newcomer of the Year Award,” Louis said. “Thank you to D2 Rail for allowing me to embark on that journey. I took a bit of an unusual career path, starting a little bit later than most at the age of 28. I really appreciate that D2 Rail took a chance on me at that age, which not all companies would do.”
The Graduate or Newcomer Award was sponsored by City & Guilds, the UK’s leader in skills development and apprenticeship schemes. The organisation has worked for over 140 years with people, organisations, and economies to help them identify and develop the skills they need to thrive. Andy Moss, Managing Director Employer Solutions at City & Guilds Group, presented the Award.
“At City & Guilds, we’re all about skills and jobs,” said Andy. “In many ways, this award embodies the work we do. It’s about celebrating the people coming into this amazing sector where they can build great careers. What I love about being part of this is the diversity of the candidates coming through and seeing people from a wide range of backgrounds succeed. Rail is great example of how you can build a really exciting future for yourself.”
Highly commended
Madeleine Coyle, Network Rail
Alison Clark-Dick, Network Rail
