Learning and career development is the cornerstone of long-term organisational success, and plays a vital role in fostering a sense of value among employees. By investing in clear pathways for progression and continuous learning, companies can unlock individual potential while strengthening employee loyalty and performance.
The Learning, Development & Investing in People Award recognises individuals or teams that show exceptional dedication to developing talent across the rail industry. Carlise Support Services was proud to sponsor this year’s award, which was presented on Thursday 27 December at Birmingham’s NEC.
Carlisle is committed to developing exceptional people, offering staff members countless opportunities to work across multiple contracts and learn from the very best to help them achieve their true potential.
Presented by Paul Brewer, the company’s head of operations (rail), the award was handed to Mark Hector and Natalie Hill from Transport for Wales (TfW).
Mark and Natalie have transformed leadership culture at TfW through their award-winning ‘Leading With…’ programme. Reaching over 310 colleagues, their work goes far beyond traditional training, combining insights discovery, coaching, and behavioural learning to foster inclusive, reflective leadership.
Participants report greater confidence, self-awareness, and improved collaboration, with promotion rates rising annually. Mark and Natalie have built a sustainable leadership community that is shaping the future of TfW’s people and organisational culture.
“This is amazing,” said Mark. “We’ve been working on this for four years and we’ve seen so much improvement within TfW. Diversity and inclusion is also a huge part of this initiative too, and this award proves that our efforts were all worth it.”
“We’ve seen a lot of external pushback in the past,” added Natalie, “and sometimes thought that maybe this wasn’t the type of thing that people wanted in the real world. But TfW has allowed us to talk about people and their behaviours, and to help individuals professionally and personally. It’s just fantastic that they recognise that!”
Highly commended:
Chris Davey, Transport for Wales
Jack Gookey, Network Rail
Back next year
We have exciting sponsorship opportunities available for the 2026 awards.
If you’re interested in discussing this further or would like to put forward nominations from your team for future awards, please feel free to contact us by email at [email protected] or call us on 01530 816 440.
You can also find out more and view the upcoming pictures and videos from the evening by visiting our website www.RailStaffAwards.com.
