Case Studies

Contract Management - Alistair Donnelly

Name: Alistair Donnelly
Job Title: Contracts Manager
Age: 31

Alistair Donnelly joined Angel Trains in July 2001 as an Assistant Project Manager on New Build Trains. Now Contracts Manager in Maintenance Services, Alistair followed a varied career path before he started his first job in the rail engineering industry.

"I spent two years as a project engineer and two as a project manager for an IT consultancy which provided services to large companies including High Street banks," he said, "But after leaving that business, I took time out to evaluate what I wanted to do and picked Angel Trains because it offered an interesting profession in which I could make a career."

Since joining, Alistair has undertaken a variety of roles, lending project management support on a number of different train projects including c2c Class 357/2, Virgin Class 390, FGE Class 360 and SWT Class 444/450.

Following his appointment to Project Manager in December 2001, Alistair also managed a variety of projects in the UK and Denmark and contributed to various initiatives, including creating New Build project templates, supporting the creation of the Total Project Management Handbook and managing the creation of UK and International bid templates.

His current responsibilities include ensuring heavy maintenance is carried out on existing fleets to the agreed timescales, cost and quality and liaising with suppliers throughout the UK.

"From day one, my job has been varied, and that's what makes it interesting," said Alistair. "In addition, I've been given the opportunity to progress through training courses and have been encouraged to develop all the time."

"But one of the best things about Angel Trains, and one of the reasons I believe it operates so well, is the working environment. There is a distinct family atmosphere in which people work very closely together and where there are always people available to offer assistance."