MAKING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
EXCLUSIVE : Hitachi Rail ’ s chief operating officer for Rolling Stock UK talks to Peter Barron about how the company has risen to the challenges of the past year – and is investing in the future at Newton Aycliffe
PICTURES BY GRAEME ROWATT
W hen someone with the global track record of Ross Nagle describes the team he works with as “ truly world-class ”, you can be sure he knows what he ’ s talking about .
During a working lifetime in engineering , Ross has managed multi-billion pound projects in a long list of countries – but he has never felt prouder than he does now , leading the team that builds trains in County Durham .
The statistics underline the impact Hitachi Rail has had since it opened its Newton Aycliffe factory in 2015 : not only has more than £ 110m been invested in the plant itself , but £ 1.86bn has been pumped into the UK supply chain .
And , as chief operating officer for Rolling Stock UK , Ross can look back on the unprecedented challenges of the past year with enormous satisfaction : “ I don ’ t use the word ‘ phenomenal ’ often , but it fits what ’ s been achieved here over the past year ,” he says . “ I honestly could not be prouder to be part of a team that is truly world-class .”
As the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic was dawning last spring , Hitachi Rail – like businesses across the world – had to adapt quickly . Risk assessments , taking social distancing into account , were needed on around 2,000 processes . The right equipment and test systems had to be in place . And preparations had to be made for 35 per cent of staff to work from home .
With 700 employees on site , it was a momentous task . Manufacturing paused on March 23 , but production resumed within just 14 days , with minimal use being made of the Government ’ s furlough scheme .
Ross believes effective communication was at the heart of that successful transition period . “ At the beginning , people were getting lots of mixed messages – from the media , the Government , their friends and colleagues – so we spent a lot of time as a management team getting the communication right .
“ We were very transparent about the difficulties , and what needed to be done , and everyone responded incredibly positively .”
Key partners – including the Unite union – were part of that open communication , and the remarkable result is that Hitachi trains have continued to roll off the Newton Aycliffe production line throughout three national lockdowns .
Playing a pivotal role in one of the world ’ s highest profile engineering companies , in the midst of the biggest public health crisis in a generation , is pretty impressive for someone whose first ambition at school was to be a car mechanic .
Born in Edinburgh , Ross grew up in West Lothian . His father , Christopher , spent 20 years in the Parachute Regiment , joining The Army at 15 after lying about his age , and had hopes that his son would also pursue a military career .
Instead , Ross went to college to study mechanical engineering before landing a job with the Nippon Electric Corporation ( NEC ) at a time when the organisation was booming , and opportunities came thick and fast .
Having gained experience in equipment engineering and manufacturing , Ross rose to a supervisory level ,
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 17