Rail insights with Darryl White

There are lots of exciting things going on in our Rail team. With so many opportunities on the horizon, we chat with Darryl White, Associate Director, to discuss everything from Rail industry insights to how we support our clients.

Darryl splits his time between his Associate Director duties for Waterman Aspen, and his secondment at Systra, where he works as a Project Manager on the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) – a multi-billion pound project aiming to bring better journeys to people travelling between Manchester and York. Darryl has cemented himself as an essential asset in the Systra team – as well as managing designs and pulling together proposals and bids, he works directly with the hiring managers so that Waterman Aspen can assist with their resourcing needs. “Systra are growing and bidding for more work and need more fixed-term support while they recruit permanent staff. We have a fantastic working relationship and we have managed to place people in every department. This support has helped Systra balance their risk regarding permanent recruitment as they continue to grow.”

Once a secondee is placed, the support doesn’t stop there. Waterman Aspen provides training and development to that person to ensure they progress both technically and professionally, which benefits them and the client. This often helps us to secure secondment extensions too.

The skills shortage is something that’s felt by everyone in our industry. But how can Waterman Aspen help? For Darryl, it’s all about liaising with clients and understanding their upcoming needs:

“We’ve noticed that many people have retired early since the COVID-19 pandemic. Large infrastructure projects, such as TRU, are taking a huge amount of resource, making it harder for our clients to find the right people with the right experience. This is where Waterman Aspen can help, because we have experienced people that are predominantly salaried who can help our clients on a secondment basis. If we understand what our clients have in their pipeline, we can make pre-emptive offers to candidates and ensure they’re ready to go from day one.”

Darryl shares his aspirations for the Rail team at Waterman Aspen and why rail engineers should join us:

“There is so much opportunity, particularly in the North with TRU, the Tyne & Wear Metro, Merseytravel and ScotRail. Joining us can help people gain varied experience in different sectors without moving companies. We work with clients to ensure that secondments are perfectly matched to their expertise and that time is invested in training to support career progression.”

Ready to boost your career, or have a project that you need our help with? Find out more about our Rail team here: