Our member insight series is an opportunity to get to know some of our Women in Transport members. This month, we are featuring some of North East Hub volunteers. In this member insight, we showcase Helen Mathews, Head of Corporate Planning (Nexus, Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive) covering the Yorkshire and North East region.
by Helen Mathews
I have worked for Nexus now for 12 years and am currently Head of Corporate Planning. To be honest, I fell into transport by accident, having worked in the pharmaceutical industry, offshore oil and gas and training and development, but I think I can now conclude I am a fully signed up Train, Bus, Ferry spotter …. I learned this when I was pointed out to friends Nexus secured bus our new livery, as well as being a bit over excited about the prospect of getting on a refurbished Metrocar for the first time and more importantly getting the ‘driving seat’.
I have been proud of many things in my career, successfully delivering the business case for the new fleet through the process, can’t wait to see them on the network, and the case for the truly fabulous South Shields Transport Interchange. Thought to being able to provide high-quality intelligence for the business to help decision making throughout the pandemic, allowing us to keep people travelling safely and many, many more things.
We are now working on the recovery plan for public transport, working out how we reassure our passengers that they can travel with confidence across the system. But the key thing I love about transport is that we are genuinely doing something that that helps so many people, whether it is getting people to their work, helping people to school or education, getting people to the shops or just out and about, we support every aspect of the economy and are good for the environment. There is a career in transport suitable for everyone, whether you are practical, enjoy being outside, thrive on the immediacy of operations or prefer a more strategic role, enjoy working with customer or would rather support our services through ICT, procurement or finance.
Annual membership of Women in Transport is £60 per year providing access to professional development and networking opportunities. We very much welcome guest blogs from our members - a great way to share the incredible diversity of opportunity in transport, raise your profile and connect with our community.
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