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Award winners: Aaron Koduah

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The superb staff at Great Britain’s 2,500 railway stations face a multitude of challenges every single day.

With responsibilities ranging from maintaining cleanliness and safety, to assisting passengers with inquiries, selling tickets, dispatching trains, and much more, they’re expected to maintain a cheery demeanour, even when confronted by difficult customers.

This is why the RailStaff Awards proudly celebrates the frontline heroes who keep our stations running smoothly.

Ray of sunshine

Aaron Koduah, who was born in Ghana and moved to the UK in 2004, lifted the Station Staff Award in 2019 when he was working on the gateline at Crewe station for Virgin Trains. He received 17 submissions from customers and colleagues for providing a ray of sunshine on even the dreariest of days and having a huge impact on the customer experience.

He regularly wrote inspiring motivational messages on the station’s welcome board, which drew the attention of passengers as well as celebrities including Olympic cyclist Joanna Rowsell Shand and comedian and quiz king Paul ‘The Sinnerman’ Sinha. Aaron channelled this positive energy into publishing a book, Developing A Strong Mindset, which features a collection of his favourite quotes.

Winning the Station Staff Award has led to greater things for Aaron, who is now a train manger at Avanti West Coast, as well as a motivational speaker and life coach.

“Winning the 2019 RailStaff Award was a great privilege which continues to open up new and exciting opportunities such as featuring in Avanti’s recruitment magazine, to winning Virgin’s Star of the Year Award,” says Aaron.

“The award was given to me by Sir Richard Branson, who selects 100 of the best employees from the 72,000 within the Virgin group of companies. Due to my exposure at the RailStaff Awards, I was selected as one of the 100 Virgin Stars of the year 2019.”

On a roll

But it didn’t stop there. The awards kept rolling in, says Aaron.

“In 2022, my newfound exposure helped me to win another award back home in Africa where, after news spread of my RailStaff Award, I was nominated for the Africa Impact Makers Award, which I went on to win. The annual award honours Africans around the world who are achieving and inspiring others and I was so surprised to win as I faced some very tough competition.”

The Station Staff Award has boosted Aaron’s belief in himself, allowing him to advance his career at Avanti West Coast.

“The confidence the RailStaff Award gave me has encouraged me to develop myself and is a proud moment that I recalled during my interview for the role of train manager. The interviewer was aware of my achievements and the positive contribution I made to Virgin Trains / Avanti West Coast, as well as the wider rail network.

“The RailStaff Award has had a tremendous impact on my career. It’s made me feel very highly appreciated and inspired me to achieve more.”

And that’s exactly what the RailStaff Awards exist for.

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