“I can bring my full self to work”: Army reservist from North Yorkshire shares her story of developing two successful careers while working for Northern ahead of Armed Forces Day tomorrow

She is one of dozens of people at Northern who have formerly worked for the armed forces or are in the army reserves.  

To celebrate Armed Forces Day tomorrow (Saturday 24th June), Kate Towns is sharing her experiences – and says Northern’s support has been crucial in allowing her military career to flourish alongside her day job. 

Kate joined Northern five years ago as the first female apprentice at Neville Hill and has more recently swapped spanners for spreadsheets to work with the train operator’s modern engineering systems team.  

The Yorkshire woman has been in the Royal Artillery reserves for six years, which is part of the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the army 

During Kate’s time with her reservist unit, she has been promoted twice and is now a guided multiple launch rocket system operator with the rank of Bombardier. 

In 2021, Northern signed the Armed Forces covenant, a commitment to supporting the employment of veterans and recognizing military skills and qualifications across our business, and the wider industry. 

Kate said: “Being in the reserves has given me a higher level of self-discipline which is part of the army ethos. Time management, a safety-first mindset and organisational skills- makes you way more productive and it has helped with both careers.  

“I feel that at Northern I can bring my whole self to work – and I’d encourage anyone with an interest in the Armed Forces to explore how they can get involved alongside their day jobs.” 

 “Obviously the most-publicised support is the extra leave to go and complete training exercises, but I think the best support I have had is from my manager – we have had proper conversations about the commitments I have an I have been able to work around major business deadlines. That flexible approach is key. 

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern said: “We are so proud to have people like Kate working for us at Northern.   

“We recognise the value that serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to the rail industry. We hope to demonstrate our appreciation of their contributions and have a positive impact for the North and employment within our communities.” 

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.   

To find out more about careers at Northern visit: northernrailway.co.uk/careers