International Men’s Day: Train operator reveals why it put the men who make up 80% of its workforce at the heart of its EDI strategy

Northern employs around 7,000 people across the North of England, 80% of which are male.

Unveiling its three-year strategy in 2023, the operator said it was committed to making men feel welcome and giving them a sense of belonging.

A year on from launching the strategy, Northern has formed a partnership with Andy’s Man Club – a men's suicide prevention charity – and actively promotes their services and the wider message about men’s mental health on their trains and at Northern-managed stations.

They have also launched a buddy scheme to promote peer-to-peer support for fathers and will be introducing neonatal, fertility and pregnancy-loss leave with pay for male colleagues.

Lisa Leighton, people director at Northern, said: “As well as working hard to encourage more women and people from a wider range of ethnicities into the industry, it’s really important that we look after the large number of men that are already here.

“Many of the men at Northern have given a significant number of years’ service to the railway – around 17 years on average.

“The purpose of putting them front and centre of our EDI strategy is to ensure men feel welcome and included in the changes that we’re making and that they understand that we care about their health, wellbeing and future.

“We want our male colleagues to feel confident acting as allies, challenging any inappropriate behaviour and using their voice to support underrepresented groups.”

The train operator says it knows it has a long way to go when it comes to the diversity of its workforce. In addition to the work of its EDI strategy, Northern is actively working to attract more people from the LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse communities, as well as those with disabilities into the business.

Leighton added: “We recognise that the challenge in front of us is huge and we want to do more than pay lip service to making things better.

“Our EDI strategy is all about what we think we can do in the next three years, before reflecting on our progress and deciding what our next equality, diversity and inclusion focus should be.”

Northern is a long-standing supporter of International Men’s Day. In 2022, the train operator released a video by male staff encouraging men to feel more comfortable talking about their physical and mental health.

And in 2023, a train driver who witnessed a suicide on the tracks in front of his train urged men to seek help for mental health issues they may be facing. 

For more information about International Men’s Day, visit: internationalmensday.com.

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