Financial challenges need ‘collaboration and innovation'
We sat down with Hannah Kingsley, RSSB board member and our Chief Finance Officer, to discuss the board’s priorities in 2024 and get her take on the current financial challenges.
Hannah KingsleyChief Finance Officer, RSSB
Hannah Kingsley, RSSB’s Chief Finance Officer and a member of our board, reflects on her first couple of years at RSSB and some priorities for the next near future. She also shares her views on how rail can regain financial stability post-Covid-19―and for her, it’s about coming together and challenging the status quo.
Why do you find working in rail so satisfying?
For me, it’s the tangible impact that rail has. In one of my early roles, working for Wessex Alliance, we were called out of our office during periods of disruption to help passengers at Waterloo station. I remember helping an elderly army veteran, fully dressed in his uniform, who had been on his way to a funeral―his duty to go, but not something he was looking forward to. The disruption had severely impacted his day, but he was more worried about me and whether I was getting too cold standing on the platform trying to help people. Interactions like these have shown me firsthand the importance of rail in people’s lives, for businesses and how they operate, and for wider communities. Getting it right is important.
Equally, it’s the people. The industry is full of people incredibly knowledgeable about the railway and also those who might be less experienced but are just as passionate about what they do. I’ve been able to participate in the Women in Rail mentorship scheme, mentoring young women, and I’m just so impressed by the enthusiasm they bring. To see that energy existing in a lot of younger people who are new to the industry makes me feel positive for the future.
In your time at RSSB, what projects or initiatives are you most proud to have supported?
Seeing the rapid development of our digital propositions, like PRIMA and Graphic Insights, has been inspiring. Being able to bring data together in new, easy-to-access, and digestible ways―which helps people visualise and deep-dive into key issues, hopefully enabling them to drive new and more efficient solutions―is a real game changer.
There’s also the work for freight in relation to coupler strength, which was demonstrated so brilliantly by the team’s video of their children explaining this very complex engineering challenge with a model railway. This project delivers real benefits for our members by proving that operators can immediately start to form longer trains and carry more. And there’s a whole host of further projects in this space supporting the freight community. Project outputs that we can instantly hand to our members, allowing them to make changes that address their key business challenges, are top of the list for me.
One of my highest priority pieces of work last year was securing the 2024–2029 funding envelope for the business. It was a great opportunity to meet and engage with senior members of the rail industry across the full breadth of our membership. Knowing that the funding secured will allow us to continue our work in areas that are critical, including supporting the industry to operate in a cost-effective way, is really satisfying―especially knowing the challenges faced by the industry going forward.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being on the RSSB board?
It’s working with such a knowledgeable, experienced, and committed group of people. I enjoy the fact that the board brings together the whole of the sector. We have a relatively large board, with a strong mix of industry and non-industry representation. This allows us to share different opinions and to tackle challenges in a genuinely collaborative way. It also allows me to challenge my understanding of the complexity of the rail system so that I can keep learning from those who have a lot more experience than I do.
What are the board’s priorities this year? And how will these help RSSB serve its members?
It’s particularly important that we continue to focus on engaging with our members, understanding their priorities, responding, and delivering value. We’re well aware of how Covid-19 has affected the industry and the need to close the funding gap, so we’ve got to think smarter and work together. RSSB can’t fix problems in isolation. Our purpose is to collaborate with others across the industry, and it’s vital that we’re engaging across our membership so that we get the best outcomes from the work we do.
We’re also setting a new business plan for 2024–2029, which includes six new strategic multipliers. That’s where RSSB can uniquely combine expertise across numerous fields to enhance the benefits and provide the best technical support that industry needs to meet its goals.
Our six strategic multipliers:
enhancing safety and health insights to improve performance
enabling automation and benefiting from artificial intelligence
improving testing capabilities
exploiting the value of data
improving weather resilience and preparedness for a changing climate
embedding sustainability.
Within these priorities is a genuine empathy with industry; we’re absolutely conscious of, and not isolated from, the challenges that rail organisations find themselves facing. Our aim is to work with our members to get under the skin of some of these complex issues and produce effective solutions together.
As RSSB’s Chief Finance Officer, what advice would you share with rail leaders who continue to navigate the post-Covid economy in 2024?
The past couple of years have been challenging. There has been an incredibly volatile financial environment, but there have also been some great rail successes, such as the opening of the Elizabeth line―so I do have optimism.
We still have a growing population in the UK, and rail has a lot to offer, but cost cutting alone is not the answer. For me, success is going to be achieved through collaboration―removing siloed thinking and working practices that don’t deliver an efficient railway. We need to be bold. We need to question why things are done and call out decisions that don’t make sense. I do think it’s about recognising that what worked previously won’t necessarily work now. We need to bring skills, diversity, and innovation into how we think and build them into all aspects of rail operations, including finance.
My overall message is to stay positive. It’s often during challenging times that really meaningful change can happen. If it’s status quo, where’s the need for people to innovate, to think differently, and to push some of those boundaries? We’re at a point where we have to start thinking in a different way.
Thank you. Lastly, what’s your parting message to our rail leader readers?
You might not realise the breadth of experience we have at RSSB or know how we can support you, but my ask is that you engage with us. We might have new perspectives on old problems or be able to provide cutting-edge solutions for newer issues. We can connect your teams with the answers they need.
Engagement at the leadership level can often be the important key that unlocks a host of conversations and delivers solutions throughout the whole of an organisation.
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