The CEO of the Rail Delivery Group, Jacqueline Starr, has joined Journey4 as an advisor to the directors. She explains more about her aims and aspirations.
Jac Starr is passionate about putting the customer at the centre of organisations and also in bringing fresh thinking to the rail industry.
It is for this reason the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has joined Journey4 as an advisor to the directors of the customer-driven growth and business transformation consultancy.
“We should be delivering exceptional services and it’s been my mission since joining the rail industry to make sure that we put the customer at the forefront of the industry and then everybody has clarity on their role and their influence in doing so,” said Jac.
“What Journey4 can do for the industry is bring tools, processes and mechanisms to enable people to do that. But they can also help in terms of some of the softer aspects such as helping people develop a broader and more mature understanding of the benefits of customer focus.
“This role is a personal investment for me, but it is more through the lens of me being able to continue that mission and growth of customer centricity within the rail industry, utilising the tools available to me through joining the Journey4 board to champion the cause of the customer.”
Journey4 works with transport operators and commissioners to align their services around changing customer needs and to deliver excellent customer experience in an increasingly competitive market.
Among several high-profile projects includes working on the 100-day plan for train operator Northern, and being commissioned to advise the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) on how to adopt a customer-led approach from the outset and to build the required customer capabilities within the organisation.
It was during the latter project that Jac first came across the organisation.
“What really struck me was the strategic nature of the customer approach they took and their ability to look at all aspects of customer implementations,” she said. “So not just customer products or outputs, but also the people focussed and performance related aspect of customer drive transformation.
“Having the luxury of being able to see the detail of that and how they were developing much needed customer focused plans within GBRTT gave me an appreciation of what I felt they could do for the industry, which struck a chord with my personal beliefs, passion and experience and that’s where the relationship began.”
Jac joined the rail industry in 2015 as Managing Director of Customer Experience at RBD and was appointed CEO in 2021, having previously worked as the Customer Experience Director at Barclays.
She said: “The customer is the raison d’être, it’s why we are here, and without the customers there is no rail service, it is as simple as that.
“We have some really strong emerging strategies in different areas, but they’re a long time coming and the ability within the industry to deliver them in the timescales which I feel are necessary, I think will be challenging, particularly in the current environment.
“But I also believe that you don’t need to change the world in order to deliver a great customer experience. I spend enough time on the network myself to know the ins and outs of all the things that could really make a difference for our customers and some of those are quite simple.”
Jac will not only advise on the transport sector operations at Journey4, but also across its other sectors such as utilities, and government, where customer centricity is seen as a key driver of improved performance.
“We need to understand and continue to understand what the basics are, continue to fix those basics and have plans in the future,” she said.
“But I also think we should take it one step further and be bolder in our commitments to customers so we should talk openly about what we hope to deliver for the future and then demonstrate incremental progress against those aspirations.
“Sometimes we will be in a position in which we will have to change course, because of the likes of technologies, political climate changes and social challenges, and that is fine, we can be really transparent about that but take our customers and those we wish to travel with us in the future on that journey with us and create that relationship beyond what we have today.”
Visit www.journey4.co.uk/ for more details.
