Culture and Inclusion at GWR: What Belonging Looks Like in Practice

Every employer says it wants to be inclusive. The more useful question for a jobseeker is what that actually looks like on a normal working day and whether it holds up for people who don't fit the stereotype of who "should" do a particular job.

Susy has spent 23 years at GWR and is now a Driver Learning Manager. She is direct about the assumptions she's had to work against:

"I've had passengers say, 'Are you driving a train? You don't look like a train driver.' Well, I don't have to look like a train driver to drive a train. That's what we have to communicate."

Her point isn't just personal. She frames it as a shift the industry is making and that women increasingly want to be part of, which is a more honest read than claiming the job is already done.

Inclusion at GWR also shows up in how it's organised, not only how it feels. Prii, who has been with GWR for 12 years, co-chairs a staff network and helps run the calendar of celebrations that go with it:

"I've been involved in numerous celebrations. There's so much inclusion, so much positivity. People are so warm."

Staff networks and named celebration moments are the kind of structure that tells you inclusion has a budget and a home, rather than being left to good intentions.

Support that meets real lives

For a lot of people, whether a workplace is genuinely inclusive comes down to something practical: can I do this job around my life? Amy Chapman, Senior Customer Service Manager for the West and Central regions, is clear that flexible working is what makes her role possible:

"I work flexibly to look after my children. Having the ability to work around my life, rather than the other way round, has been really valuable."

She also points to a well-being team based across the network and to colleagues she can decompress with after a hard shift, which speaks to a culture where asking for support is normal rather than awkward.

A workforce that reflects its passengers

GWR's frontline roles put diversity at the centre of the job itself. One Customer Care Assistant describes the best part of the work as the range of people it brings them into contact with, colleagues and customers alike, across different cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities and sexualities, and a role built around assisting people who can't easily assist themselves: putting down ramps for wheelchair users, guiding visually impaired passengers, helping elderly travellers.

That outward-facing inclusion is matched by a stated commitment. GWR sums up its vision for inclusion and diversity as: "We are progressive. We are one family. We are inclusive. First time, every time." It's a claim worth testing rather than taking on trust, but there are checkable signs behind it, including a Recite Me accessibility and language toolbar on the careers site so that applicants can adjust how they read and apply.

Raj, a Contracts Manager who has worked for several companies, offers a comparative view that's more persuasive than any single superlative:

"The culture at GWR I found really welcoming, working in a diverse environment. It's flexible, really supportive."

Belonging, in other words, isn't one thing at GWR. It's a woman changing what a train driver looks like, a staff network with an inclusive calendar, flexible hours that fit around a family, and a frontline built to serve every kind of passenger. Whether it's the right fit for you is a question best answered by looking at the roles themselves.

→ See how GWR describes its inclusion commitments and browse live roles on VERCIDA: https://www.vercida.com/uk/employers/great-western-railway#openings