BTL issue 8

The award-winning magazine for everyone at London Midland

together

for charity

08 New! Supporting you to raise money for good causes inside this issue...

02 110 MPH TRAIN LAUNCH 06 OLYMPICS ROUND-UP 10 PM VISITS SOHO 15 TELL US WHAT YOU THINK OF BTL AND WIN...

ISSUE 8 | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012

www.londonmidland.com

2

hello!

I’m Colin, Senior Conductor, based at Coventry.

I

absolutely love Between the Lines – it really helps to fill the gaps for those of us who are not office based or in touch with management every day. As conductors we get on with our jobs and as we often work pretty much on our own, it’s important to have something to keep us informed about what’s going on elsewhere.

I read every issue, and I do love the competitions – although I never seem to win! In this one, I think my favourite feature is From Dawn ‘til Dusk (page 7), which follows Wayne Moore in his role as H&S Representative at Bletchley. I’ve been H&S Rep at Coventry for 18 months, and it’s really good to see publicity given to what we do.

I was also really interested in the story about the Prime Minister’s visit to our Soho depot (page 10). No one knew about this until it came on the news, so it was really interesting to read about what happened behind the scenes.

The people pages are always great to read. We have a great team at Coventry and socialise a lot with each other, but it’s good to get a view of what other colleagues are up to across the business.

I also love the centrespread about London Midland Giving. We often have ideas about what we can do for charity, and now we Check out know how to take it further. I really hope nes en the Li e you enjoy this issue as much as I have! tw Be .uk co e. in az ag tlm at www.b

Colin

Colin Davenport-Adams Guest editor

it’s all about you...

This is your magazine. So if you’d like something including, please get in touch. We’re looking to hear from individuals or teams with a story to tell. Are you working on something new, different or interesting?

What do you do in your spare time? What matters to you at work?

What do you want to know more or less about?

w his tle

st op

@

Contact Between the Lines at btl@londonmidland.com or call 01904 731185 If you are emailing from home, do leave your name so we know who to get back in touch with.

...is your quick stop for what’s happening across London Midland – follow it along the bottom of Between the Lines.

All the latest news

Speedier trains by Christmas!

Customers will soon be hurtling to and from London up to ten minutes faster in off-peak journeys when we increase the speed of 30 Class 350/1s from 100mph to 110mph on the West Coast Main Line.

“We’ll be able to add an additional train to off-peak services from the December timetable onwards, which will help us meet customer demand,” says Graham Boden, Head of Programme Management. “We’re still in the testing stage at the moment, but are confident all the modifications will be done in time, which means customers will soon experience the benefits of faster journeys and more trains.”

Look out for the special project 110 updates published every six weeks with all the techy info!

covaersr st

Left to Right: Mark Payne, Carl Miller and Anna-Marie Brown

Between the Lines magazine is managed by Richard Baker and designed and produced by scarlettabbott – 01904 633399 | scarlettabbott.co.uk

30 Absolutely brilliant

3

Class 350/1 trains are increasing their speed to 110mph

It’s like a lig ht’s switched o n The best programme ever

That’s what our Fleet colleagues are saying about the Effective Management programme they’ve just been through.

T

he ILM L3 Award in Effective Management helps managers to develop their leadership skills – and the beauty of it is that it’s a completely flexible qualification that we’ve tailored to meet our Fleet needs.

Starting last summer, several of our supervisors, managers and technicians spent the early part of the year working through the programme modules, which cover everything from communication and managing conflict to managing performance and coaching and training teams.

John Mills, Depot Manager, at Birmingham New Street, says: “It’s the best programme ever; I found it outstanding, absolutely brilliant.

“We really needed some development to help us deliver effective 121s, and make team briefings more interactive and enjoyable for the guys. It was also good to understand more about how to manage different people effectively. I really rated it, and it feels like someone’s switched a light on for me.

“It’s really making a difference to the team, and the whole of Fleet, that their managers have been through this process, and I now feel that I can play my team to their individual strengths much better.”

Organisation Development Manager Ruth Noake adds: “Everyone who’s done it has put a lot of time and effort in, and it’s great to hear it has been received so positively. We’ll be learning from this approach as we plan to provide similar development opportunities for people across the business in the next 12 months.”

ILM colleagues also include Birmingham New Street Technician Colin Haycock, Bletchley Shunter Les Croucher, Birmingham New Street Cleaning Supervisor Debbie Williams, Worcester Depot Manager Andy Merrell, Tyseley Compliance Manager Paul Carrigan, Tyseley Team Manager Paul Connor, Tyseley Team Manager Jim Scott, Traincare Presentation & Standards Manager Trevor Hendrick and Tyseley Production Support Manager Nick Silver.

OUR FLEET COLLEAGUES DEVELOPING THEIR SKILLS

RailStaff Awards nominees!

Well done to Simone Carter, Bill Burnhope, Bob Glover, Chris Waite, David Langham, Merlin Gard, Juliana Asare, Mick North, Nigel Bacchus, Ruth Noake, Zahida Parveen, Roger Taylor, Mick North, Matt Clark and the Worcester Foregate Street Travel Centre – for being nominated for RailStaff Awards.

This year’s awards are being held at the ICC, Birmingham on Saturday 20 October.

Good luck everyone!

4

how we’re doing

th3

num63r5 How we’re performing

9,515

14,010

minutes

94 92

89.7

89.7

90.2

90.5 88.1

88

91.6%

GREATER ANGLIA

91.2%

VIRGIN TRAINS PERIOD 5

PERIOD 4

82 80

89.7%

78 London Midland PPM

Regional PPM London and (Non-London Services) Southeastern PPM

London Midland MAA

(all of the above industry periods)

customer complaints The ‘hot topics’ among customers were: lack of on-train announcements (especially during disruption), traincrew visibility and consequent lack of ticket checks, lack of ticket checks within first class, station booking offices being unmanned/unavailable, and overcrowding. But Twitter coverage throughout the Games was extremely well received, drawing a great deal of praise for providing timely and accurate information.

Period 4

5,541

Period 5

up

89.7%

SOUTHERN

84 PERIOD 5

%

87.5

4,512

down

91.7%

INDUSTRY AVERAGE

89.7

% 86

PERIOD 4

2.8

90.0

P5

93.0%

96

90

Period 5

Find out how our PPM compares with the rest:

SOUTHEASTERN

PERIOD 5

%

Period 5

217 177

PERIOD 4

4.9

minutes

compare CHILTERN

PERIOD 5

Period 4

Period 4

148 131

Period 5

PART FULL

Period 4

cancellations PART FULL

delay minutes

PERIOD 4

customer journey growth

how we

85.5%

PPM latest MAA (Moving Annual Average) Period 5

Our performance In Period 5 delays minutes were 36% worse than we’re targeted for.

This is largely down to an incident with a faulty overhead line at Birmingham New Street, which was attributed to us, but disputed and an investigation has found that it was down to Network Rail. So of the total delay minutes – 2,300 can be attributed to that. A traincrew shortage is also making a significant impact on the number of cancellations. In Period 5 cancellations were over budget – chiefly driven by a vacancy gap. We thank the goodwill of crews who are helping to ‘bridge the gap’, and all of our traincrew training programmes are full as we work towards resolving the issue.

5

r Yfeoedu back S

o, we’ve started making changes for the better across all areas of our business.

One of these is changing the way we support causes close to your heart – and that’s why we’ve launched London Midland Giving (see pages 8 and 9).

We’re also improving the way we lead the company and communicate with each other.

One of the areas many of you thought we needed to improve upon is our Vision for the future of our company. In fact, a large number

e r u t u f r u o – and

great deal of useful ld us a us ve ga u yo ey re.You to In our Spring Surv about working he el fe u yo w . ho nd feedback arou uld be doing better co e w k in th u yo t wha what you like, and

of you felt that the senior management on our plans and give you the chance to hear team didn’t even from our team of have a Vision for “One of the areas many directors about the future!

So, with that in of you thought we needed the challenges we face and how we mind, we’d like to improve upon is our plan to meet them. to come and talk It will be a great with you in more Vision for the future of opportunity for detail about the our company.” you to share your things we do well, views and get to what we can do know our directors in a less formal differently, and get your ideas on environment. Keep an eye out for more how we can make things better. information in the coming weeks!

We’d like to hear your feedback

everyone counts

i

Keep an eye out for information on mylondonmidland.com and inbriefs for details of when a Roadshow will be in your area. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

our Ambassador Some of our directors meeting year Award winners earlier this

6

London 2012

Good

Games Maker Lynn Bellfield and her sister on their first day at the Games!

Games Inspired colleagues

Happy customers

“Well, that was beautifully uneventful – in terms of incidents!” says Customer Relations Supervisor James Foxall.

“And the moral of the story was that we were prepared.” He is of course talking about how we managed the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer.

“Yes, there were some issues with overhead lines and delays, but do you know what – we all worked together, and at the end of the day our customers and stakeholders were really happy.

“It’s a credit to everyone at London Midland just how smoothly everything operated across our network. We were very busy on Twitter and the majority of comments were positive.”

james

foxall

“I had an amazing journey as a Games Maker at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich during the shooting events. I had the pleasure of being in the finals hall for the first gold medal, showed spectators to seats, mingled and checked accreditation on the athlete’s door. I also did ticket scanning, meeting and greeting, gave directions to the ranges, and took pictures for people on their cameras. I even got my picture taken with British shooter Peter Wilson the day after he won his gold medal in the Double Trap event.

“I had a brilliant time and made several new friends. The motto on the wall by the entry says ‘Inspire a Generation’ and it’s certainly inspired me. I’ve had the time of my life and I feel so proud and honoured to have been part of the Games.”

Glennis Garner

glennis garner and peter wilson

Bien fait Congratulations to Senior Conductor Michael Smith from Northampton who’s gained something of a reputation for being ‘tres bon’ with our customers.

Senior Conductor Manager Paul Temple explains: “I’ve nominated Michael for a London Midland Ambassador Award for his outstanding service during the Games.

“As Michael is fluent in English and French he made his on-train announcements in both languages – much to the delight of our customers.

“It was also helpful for our customers from Europe, who visited London for the Games and were using our transport system for the first time. His announcements drew praise from many members of the public and rail managers alike and he became a star on Twitter!

“Not only that, he was actually interviewed on BBC Radio! His actions have helped tell another positive story about London Midland, and showed our customers that we were ahead of the game with our Olympic preparations. One customer remarked that he was tempted to remain on the train, rather than leave at his station, just to listen to the announcements.

Thanks Michael and well done.”

Michael Smith

Did yo know…u

that du ring t we carr he Games ied abo ut 9,000 c ustome r s per day ! � thanks!

“Thank you for the invaluable contribution that all in your organisation have made to delivering effective and reliable transport during the Olympics and Paralympics, and making the Games such an unequivocal success.” DfT

5am 7

Wayne’s shifts can start at

3 role

There’s no such thing as a typical day at work for Wayne Moore, as he juggles three responsibilities as Conductor, Instructor and RMT Health & Safety Rep at Bletchley.

“All aspects of my role involve being vigilant about safety for colleagues and customers.

The railway can be a dangerous environment and as conductors, we’re responsible for everyone on our trains travelling safely and comfortably, which means a host of safety checks and customer focus.

Most of my days are spent on-train, as conductor or instructor.

We teach all aspects of the role – from platform lengths, how to make announcements, customer service, station and route information – absolutely everything.

quick fire Lates or earlies: in Lates – I can’t get out of bed the morning!

Football or rugby: Footie all day Steak or salad: t– There’s only one answer to tha ! ium I like mine med

The trainees follow our shift pattern and carry out on-train duties, while we work with them until they take their formal assessment.

“Safety is absolutely critical and everything has to be watertight.”

I work a week of early shifts, starting as early as 5am, followed by a week of late shifts, which can finish as late as 2.47am. I really enjoy meeting lots of different people and the variety of duties, incidents and people I deal with – it’s never dull!

We can face challenging situations, which is when our training kicks in. I was in the middle of a much-reported incident when a female passenger tragically took her own life in a toilet cubicle. It was an awful and rare situation, but we had to concentrate on getting all

� thank you!

s in one! of our customers off the train safely I’ve also participated in two and promptly. telephone ‘talkbacks’, representing At the end of a shift we ‘cash up’ any the views of my colleagues and tickets sold and book off the system. putting their questions to our We take rest breaks at designated Operations and Safety Director. mess rooms in the stations, Every three months, we tour the usually at Euston or Northampton. depots as a team and report back They’re purposefully away from anything that needs to be noted. platforms to make sure we get enough Safety is absolutely critical and rest and time away from our duties. everything has to be watertight.

The other part of my role is even Our colleagues can call or email me further into the safety aspect. with any concerns and we also run I was elected as the RMT H&S H&S forums representative for Bletchley a couple to give them of years ago and work with Anita more time Warren, H&S rep at Northampton, to discuss Bob East, H&S rep at Watford and any problems John Hopper, the ASLEF rep for Bletchley or issues. and Northants. Together we make sure facilities are always up to scratch, colleagues are protected and have somewhere to come if they have a problem. If they have any issues, we represent them at committee wayne keeps a close eye on all aspects of safety meetings.

“Thanks to our Health and Safety reps for your work on our health and safety culture.”

Wallace Weatherill, Operations and Safety Director

8

London Midland Giving

we’ve listen

everyone counts

Everyone who works at London Midland can apply for 50% of the money they have raised (up to £500) for any UK charity/ not-for-profit organisation.

Each individual or group can apply for a maximum contribution of £500 per London Midland financial year (1 July – 30 June).

Every six weeks the London Midland Giving panel will meet to go through your application and you’ll hear if this has been successful soon after.

Please note that London Midland Giving cannot donate to the following: • promotion of political beliefs • promotion of religious beliefs • projects with existing public funding.

Cheques will be made payable to the charity you’re supporting and as such, they’ll need to have their own bank account.

– that’s why we’re launching London Midland Giving!

Over the years you have done everything from bungee jumps, abseils and skydives to marathon runs, footie matches, cake sales and discos – all in the name of charity!

We know that you like to give something back, and we want to help you too.

Y

ou’ve been telling us, in your emails and conversations, and through our Spring Survey, that you’d like us to try to do more to support your good causes. You might remember that back in the May/June issue of Between the Lines we asked for some more feedback for a cross-functional group who were working on the project.

Thank you to everyone for sharing your thoughts and ideas with them; it’s inspired our London Midland Giving scheme.

“We’re really excited about this,” says Apeksha Naik, HR Business Partner – Conductors, who’s from the group behind our new approach.

She explains: “London Midland Giving

9

ened

provides us with a practical structure and approach to supporting charities across our business. Previously people told us that things weren’t joined up and it wasn’t clear how colleagues could get support for worthy causes.”

Additionally, in our Spring Survey a lot of people felt we could do more for charity and increase awareness.

There are two key aspects to London Midland Giving.

The first is a scheme where London Midland will match 50% of sponsorship money that you raise for a recognised charity.

So, for example if you take part in a fundraising event and raise £100, the company will give you £50 to add to your fundraising ‘pot’, up to a maximum of £500. If you raise £1,200 we will donate £500. There’s certain conditions attached

apply! now

You need to apply for a don ation befo re you comp lete your event so our cross charity -function verify you al panel c r applicati an on. You ca criteria an n read all d get you the r mylondo nmidland application form a .com and t with a co email it, a py of y long to giving@ our sponsorship fo rm/letter, londonm idland.co it by post m or send to Londo n Midland The Acad Giving, emy, 6th Floor, 102 New Street, Birmingh am B2 4JB .

� thank you!

e and trhis... e winn Anna-marie brown and her winning logo design

to make sure we give as many colleagues the opportunity to receive a donation.

We’re also really excited about the second aspect of London Midland Giving; as well as supporting local and individual good causes we will also have a company-wide charity which is Railway Children.

“It’s great that we’ve been able to listen to feedback from colleagues across our business and create something that will help so many good causes.”

We chose this particular charity based on your feedback and because of its strong links with our industry. We are hoping to work with our colleagues in our sister TOCs to run some fun and worthy events.

“It’s great that we’ve been able to listen to feedback from colleagues across our business and create something that will help so many good causes,” says Business Analyst Varsa Patel, who is part of the group working on the project.

Soho Technician Clair Smith says London Midland Giving will spur her on to do more for charity in the future. “I did a skydive recently and raised £820 for Acorns Childrens Hospice. I wanted to do something different and daring for fun, and help children in need at the same time.

I’m glad I did because I was pleased with how much I raised for charity. Now, with London Midland Giving, I’ll have the extra incentive of raising more for good causes.

I might do a sponsored wing walk next!”

to scarlettabbott for donating their time for free to recreate Anna-Marie’s winning logo for us.

The winner of our ‘create a London Midland Giving logo’ competition is HR Systems Analyst Anna-Marie Brown, from 102 New Street, Birmingham.

Her simple heart and planet design has since been transformed into a professional logo, donated by scarlettabbott, to promote London Midland Giving every time we talk about it.

Carl Miller, Production Manager, who is also part of the group, says: “Anna-Marie’s logo design really stood out. It’s simple, effective and it fits with our Planet visionary goals.”

Anna-Marie says: “I can’t draw to save my life, so I did a bit of a Blue Peter job cutting out things that show love and caring for other people – that’s what London Midland Giving means to me.

“I’m proud to be associated with our charity giving, and when I see my logo design it will be nice to know that I created it!”

If you are taking part in something for charity and want to ask about free car parking, publicity or collections at stations, visit www.londonmidland.com/ about-us/supporting-charities or contact Head of Franchise Management Nicola Moss at nicola.moss@londonmidland.com

10

PM visit

sniffer d gs, pizz ands VIPs

colleagues greet the pm and deputy pm

Between the Lines discovers what happened when the Prime Minister, his deputy, and the entire Cabinet came to Soho depot…

H

confidential

our guys show the vips the ropes

� by invitation

ow do you prepare one of our depots for a ‘VIP’ visit when you don’t know who’s coming?

Then, when you do, you’re sworn to secrecy until the eleventh hour?

“It’s tricky, but not impossible, as we recently proved,” recalls Head of Franchise Management Nicola Moss.

“One morning, back in July, I took an important call. It was from the Cabinet Office, asking to look at possible locations for a ministerial visit. A representative called Jess came to meet me the next day and suggested Soho depot as the venue.

“I was still in the dark as to who was coming, but I knew it was a very important visit, which was confirmed the next day when I was told, most confidentially, that the PM, deputy PM and Cabinet Office would be visiting Soho to give a speech and have a Cabinet meeting the following Monday. It would be the first time a Cabinet meeting had ever been held at a train depot.”

Nicola and our Managing Director Patrick Verwer were the only two people within the company who knew who was visiting, and they set about organising everything for the top secret arrival.

Depot Manager Chris Wright led the preparations for the speech and meeting area, including liaising with the Cabinet Office and production company on everything from covering the inspection pit, getting units in the right place, and rearranging depot workload

to arranging catering, photo illustrations and safety boots for the visitors.

“We spent the rest of the week and the whole weekend getting the area prepped and just right for the visit,” he says.

“The team and I arranged the depot work schedule around the visit, and we created a ‘safe area’, making it as risk free as possible for the visit. Over the weekend a stage was assembled within the workshop, with lighting, cameras and sound system for the live broadcasts. We also got pizzas in to thank everyone who went above and beyond to help, staying late on Saturday and Sunday night to help get everything just right.

“As the visit got closer there was lots of excitement – and suddenly Soho became a very busy place to be.”

“I think by the time police started crawling all over the depot and the sniffer dogs came in people realised it wasn’t just anyone coming to visit, but our colleagues were incredibly professional and just got on with it.

Nicola adds: “As the visit got closer there was lots of excitement – and suddenly Soho became a very busy place to be.

“On the day of the visit police officers were crawling into roof spaces, and sniffer dogs were exploring cars and

Nick Clegg was so impressed with Depot Manager Chris Wright that he invited Chris to be his guest at the Olympics closing ceremony.

david cameron and nick clegg deliver their speech

vehicles as they arrived on site.

There was lots of hustle and bustle.

“At 9am we were allowed to tell the depot team and our 20 plus stakeholders at the depot exactly who was coming to visit.

“By 10am the PM and his deputy arrived with their entourage like a whirlwind. They met with Patrick and Go-Ahead Group Chief Executive David Brown, before touring the depot and meeting our engineers.

Following the press announcement, the entire Cabinet arrived for their meeting chaired by David Cameron.”

Nicola adds: “All of the national media were there, about 20 journalists and camera crews, and Nick Robinson interviewed Patrick about the visit. It was quite a sight to see the Cabinet and PM drinking from London Midland mugs!

Then they left as quickly as they arrived – but forgot to take their tablecloth so we returned it to them later!

“It was a fascinating experience, with all the secrecy and the speed, then the ingenuity of everyone, all while making sure it was a safe event, and that the depot ran as usual before and after the visit.”

11

our Winter Plan

Got any fe e about how dback we can be better pre pared? Ge t in touch wit h Rob dire ctly at robert .hornsey@ londonm idland.co m

comes

t gether As we all know, the weather can be unpredictable and change rapidly, seriously affecting our network and the service we provide to our customers. But our new Winter Plan means that we’ll be more than ready the next time we find ourselves tackling a snowy situation.

E

very morning, Control Manager Rob Hornsey checks his emails.

Nothing unusual there, except that the emails Rob receives contain weather reports that could dramatically change our operations and activate the Winter Plan.

Rob is particularly on the look out for any hint of snow, which can significantly disrupt our network, as we saw in the winter of 2010/11 when most of the UK was snowed in.

The plan was formed on the back of the major disruption caused during that year and consists of a series of processes designed to streamline and protect our services as much as possible, in order to minimise disruption for our customers.

A forecast from the Met Office for a medium threat of snow automatically kicks off a meeting with departmental heads who decide

whether to activate the Winter Plan.

If it goes ahead, an emergency timetable is triggered, which operates with one-third of our usual services running with full capacity.

“Everyone is ready for anything, whatever the weather this winter.”

The Seasonal Preparedness Group also meets to look into processes, set up contingencies and develop an action tracker, which makes sure the plan goes without a hitch. The action tracker is reviewed and improved at the end of each season, making sure we’re always adapting to different challenges and remaining flexible in our approach.

Due to last year’s mild winter, the plan hasn’t yet been used, but is available for colleagues to access at mylondonmidland.com “We’ve made sure the information is available to all our station colleagues so they know what to do and can keep customers informed,” says Rob. The plan also provides emergency cover for colleagues who can’t get into work, extra cover for Customer Relations and provision for customers to use other TOC’s tickets to travel on our trains and vice versa.

Adds Rob: “We’re hoping we won’t need to activate the Winter Plan this year, but we now have a robust, workable and accessible plan in place to make sure everyone is ready for anything, whatever the weather this winter.”

Tweets

ahead

Customers have to know about the Winter Plan – and fast.

As soon as the plan goes live, we’re onto Twitter and our website to keep customers, as well as other TOCs and Network Rail informed.

“Twitter’s invaluable to get live information to customers and receive immediate feedback,” says Rob. “Sending out updates used to be reactive but Twitter allows us to be proactive. It’s great two-way communication.”

The Twitter team are always found at the heart of the action, as they immediately relocate to Control when incidents occur to send out real-time updates.

12

my other life

a m bi tion

15k

paul pumps some iron

15k

am

bi tion

Name: Paul Russell LM life: Cleaner at Worcester depot Other life: Amateur bodybuilder

B

“

odybuilding isn’t just about going to the gym. It’s a lifestyle,” says Paul Russell, who joined a gym 20 years ago to “get a bit fitter,” and hasn’t stopped going since.

Paul admits he became “a bit addicted” to exercise after seeing how much he could use it to shape and change his muscles.

“I loved seeing the change that the right exercise could do to my body,” says Paul, who now weighs 15 stone, can almost bench press his own bodyweight, and easily leg presses the equivalent of 240 bags of sugar!

“It’s amazing the muscle you can build simply by exercising and eating in a certain way,” he says.

“So I decided to go from fitness to bodybuilding – taking what I was doing to the next level.”

Paul’s worked hard over the past 20 years to build his body – and over the next 12 months he’ll be working on putting on another four stone in muscle so that he can enter his first bodybuilding contest.

He wants to take part in the National Amateur Body-Builders’ Association’s Masters/Over 50s first timers’ competition in London.

the muscle so that I look my best on stage.”

“People have complimented me on my To perfect his physique, Paul weight trains muscles and said I should compete,” he says.

“I’ve never thought about doing it before, and three or four times a week for a couple I’m not bothered where I come in the contest, of hours. He lifts 80kg in weights on a bench press and does some ‘light’ arm weights. but it will be nice to say that I’ve done it.”

“A lot of bodybuilders do repetitions, So, what does it take to be a bodybuilder? where they’ll lift the “Discipline and weights ten times perseverance,” and then do it again, says Paul.

“I do get asked to ‘lift and shift’ counting to keep “A big part of sometimes because I think track of what attaining this look they’ve done. comes down to diet.” people know I’m a bodybuilder But I believe in For Paul, this means and that I can lift quite a lot.” lifting until I’m eating small meals tired and then every few hours and moving on to the tracking his calorie, next one,” says Paul. “I also only use light carbohydrate, fat and protein intake to weights for my arms because it means that help him meet his goals.

I can move better when I’m lifting.”

“I have six Weetabix for breakfast, a main Speaking of lifting, we ask if colleagues meal in the afternoon, which is usually chilli rely on Paul’s muscles at work. “I do get con carne and rice or chicken or pasta, then a asked to ‘lift and shift’ sometimes because healthy snack such as chicken legs, followed I think people know I’m a bodybuilder and by a sandwich at work. With each of these I that I can lift quite a lot,” he jokes. And what have a protein drink which is an important do Worcester colleagues make of the part of my diet,” explains Paul. muscle man? “They’re all cool,” says Paul.

“Before the competition I’ll go on a very “Actually they’re interested in how I got strict diet for about three months to make into bodybuilding and what it involves.” myself leaner. I’ll be losing fat but keeping

13

Subject: Kindle Keyboard I just wanted to say thank you very much for the Kindle Keyboard and case, which arrived yesterday. I was absolutely thrilled to be told I’d won the competition (Between the Lines Issue 5 March/April 2012) and now I’m looking forward to downloading many books and hours of peaceful reading.

Thank you again.

Mike Rees, Wylde Green

Subject: Correction In Issue 7 of Between the Lines the ‘hello’ says that 2012 is the first time we have had football at the Olympics. This is incorrect, football has been part of the Olympics for over 100 years, Great Britain won gold in Olympic Football in 1908 and 1912.

2012 is the first time Great Britain has entered a football team at the Olympics since 1974.

Chris Wakeman, Cross City North Health & Safety Rep/LLC Rep Lichfield City Reply from: Between the Lines team Thanks Chris – we stand corrected – you’re right. This year is the first time that Great Britain has entered a football team in the Games since 1974.

Royal visit Subject: Jubilee Here are some photos from the Worcester Shrub Hill Royal visit – part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tour. It was a great day and a proud moment to be able to welcome the Queen to Worcester Shrub Hill. It took a vast amount of effort from all involved, and everyone did us proud. The Station team, Facilities team, Worcester RPI team, Safer Travel team, Carlisle Cleaning team and Network Rail all worked with the British Transport Police to ensure that we presented ourselves as professionally and efficiently as possible. Weeks of work and planning culminated in a very special moment that will stay with us all for a long time to come.

Craig Gould, Delivery Manager, Worcester line. the queen visits worcester

Shrub Hill

14

Emma saves

work/life

£2,618

YOU CAN SAVE TOO! Have you checked whether you’re making the most of what’s available to you?

It’s very simple – just present the code and your travel pass to take advantage of these amazing offers. Here are just a few of the other ways you can save, save, save:

Get the most out of

your

benefits

We’re all having to tighten our purse strings in these tough economic times. So it’s great to know that there are loads of benefits available to us.

Did you know about all the great benefits, discounts and freebies you’re entitled to as a London Midland colleague?

You could qualify for Childcare Vouchers, a Cycle to Work Scheme, 2 for 1 offers, discounts on your mobile phone tariff and many others.

Take me, for example. I’m a 29-year-old married working mum of one with a mortgage and childcare costs to pay. By being money savvy, I’m currently saving almost £3,000 a year – well worth it! Here’s how I’m taking advantage of offers open to me as a London Midland employee:

IDLAND EMMA’S LONDON M BENEFITS SAVINGS � Smart Pension SAVES £623.38 rk � Cycle/Commute to Wo SAVES £84.24 � Childcare vouchers SAVES £926.64 � Alton Towers Family Annual Standard Pass Discount SAVES £23.40 � Two for One – Sea life centre SAVES £18.00

� Two for One – Leisure Box – twice a year SAVES £20.00 � Orange iPhone Panther 26 discount SAVES £62.40 rk � Free train travel to wo 0 £74 SAVES � Two adult trips to London three times per year (Super Off-peak) SAVES £120 618.06 TOTAL SAVING: £2,

Beaumonts Health Club is offering us 20% off Corporate membership for you and up to two family members. There are branches in Bletchley, Milton Keynes and Watford.

Cotswold Outdoor Ltd is offering us 10% discount at one of their 53 stores.

Just quote code AF-LONMID-W4 and present your travel pass to benefit from this great discount.

Lots of Birmingham-based offers at Cadbury World, Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum, Black Country Living Museum and many more.

The Tower of London, Science Museum IMAX, SEA LIFE London Aquarium and London Eye all have money off.

In Liverpool and the North West you can save on City Sightseeing Liverpool, Liverpool Cathedral and Liverpool Football Club.

tell us whatd... you think an

As you know, we’re keen to keep improving our award-winning employee magazine Between the Lines (BtL) but we can only do so with your help! Tell us what you think and you could win a fantastic prize.

I

n our recent Spring Survey you told us it’s important for you to know what’s happening in our business and with your colleagues. We also received some really positive feedback about BtL in particular so thank you for that!

By taking part in our BtL survey you can help us make your mag even better. Does the magazine talk about the things and people you want to hear about? How do you like to hear about the things that affect you, and what do you want more or less of?

It’s a chance to have your say. We’ll publish the results in the next issue, and work with our cross-functional editorial panel to help shape your magazine.

don’t forget!

Name:

Please complete the survey, and return it to Between the Lines Reader Survey, Richard Baker, Engagement Manager, London Midland, 102 New Street, Birmingham, B2 4JB, or you can complete it online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/BtLReaderSurvey12 We won’t attribute your responses to you personally, so please be as honest as possible.

If you want to be in with a chance of winning the prize we just need your name, title and location so we know who to send it to! It should take about ten minutes of your time and, to thank you, you’ll be entered into a free prize draw to win either £200 in Capital Bonds vouchers or £200 for charity – the winner can choose!

You can complete the online survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/BtLReaderSurvey12

Job Title:

Location:

1 How do you rate Between the Lines as a magazine?

Excellent

Very good

Good

Average

Poor

Rarely

Never

2 How often do you read Between the Lines magazine?

Every issue

Most issues

Some issues

3 If rarely, or never, why?

4 In future, would you like to receive it:

More often

Less often

Don’t change it, it’s just right

5 How do you prefer to read it?

A printed version at home

A printed version at work

Online

6 Which bits of Between the Lines do you like to read? Articles on:

Our people at work Team focus Charity work Competition

Our people outside of work Letters page The benefits of working for London Midland

How we’re doing as a business Work/life tips What we’re doing for our customers everyone counts

7 Please rate how well Between the Lines keeps you informed/up-to-date with the following:

• How London Midland is doing as a business • Where London Midland is heading in the future • What’s going on in different areas of the company • The benefits of working for London Midland • Colleagues in your area • Colleagues in other teams • What we’re doing for our customers • How we’re doing compared with our competitors • What we’re doing for the environment and communities we serve • Our Vision and Values

8 I feel that Between the Lines gives me a...

Excellent

Strongly agree

Good

Agree

OK

Poor

Very Poor

Neither agree or disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

• Realistic picture of what it’s like working here • A clearer understanding of what’s going on at London Midland

9 What do you get from Between the Lines that you don’t get from any other communication?

10 What would you like to see more of in Between the Lines? (please tick as many as you want) How London Midland is doing as a business

What’s going on in different areas of the company

Where London Midland is heading in the future

Colleagues in your area Colleagues in other teams

The benefits of working at London Midland What we’re doing for our customers How we’re doing compared with our competitors What we’re doing for the environment and communities we serve

11 What else would you like to see in Between the Lines? Please let us know:

Thank you !

12 Which, if any, social networking sites do you use regularly?

w his tle

st op

Facebook LinkedIn

� congratulations!

Twitter Myspace

YouTube Google+

to Nuneaton Retail Assistant Luke Riddell (pictured right), who won the Chromebook and to Bletchley Senior Conductor James Smith, who won the family ticket on the Severn Valley Railway (issue 7).

Now, don’t forget to send it to the address on page 15 for your ch ance to win our pri ze.