Railway Industry Association (RIA) is offering the opportunity to two RIA SME members to become the new SME Chair and Vice Chair, to help represent the small and medium sized businesses within RIA membership and guide RIA’s activity for SME members. This comes at the end of current Chair Lucy Prior’s term, and as current Vice Chair Paul McSharry confirms his intention to step down at the end of his two-year tenure.
The SME Chair and Vice Chair work closely with RIA to inform work and initiatives for SME members which includes:
· Delivering at least three SME Group events throughout the year (all of which are offered on a hybrid basis)
· Promoting the needs and challenges of small businesses and the benefits they provide to the supply chain
· Ensuring the SME agenda is a common topic, included within discussion across other RIA groups (e.g. Nations & Regions) to ensure consistency and cross-group awareness
Both roles have a two-year tenure, with the Vice Chair then given the opportunity to step up to the position of Chair after their initial two years.
The Chair represents SMEs on the RIA Board, which meets four times a year at the RIA Offices in London, and with the Vice Chair will be given opportunities to speak at conferences and events throughout their tenure, including chairing the regular SME Group events. Both of these roles offer excellent opportunities for professional and personal development for established individuals within the SME community.
RIA are looking for people who bring:
· Strong and visible leadership and chairing skills;
· A proven ability to coordinate work with other organisations, navigating organisational boundaries and influencing senior industry leaders;
· A clear sense of strategic direction and the ability to win support;
· The ability to build connections across the industry;
· And crucially, a genuine passion for promoting awareness of and action on the challenges and opportunities facing SMEs in the UK rail industry.
Lucy Prior, outgoing SME Chair: “I have had the privilege of Chairing the SME group since October 2021, having stepped up to the Chair’s role a few months earlier than originally planned. I and Paul McSharry, outgoing SME Vice Chair, wanted to be certain that we were contributing our time to something that would give SMEs a stronger voice, and I personally wanted to ensure that we created proactive discussion.
“Over the last two and half years I have represented the SME Group at the RIA Board; at conferences and events; given feedback to the SME community from Tier 1s, end clients and Government; and whilst the conversation must continue, I do believe that we have helped raise awareness of the realities of trading as an SME to a wider audience.
“I am extremely proud of the variety of ways in which we have supported the SME agenda: helping SMEs access procurement and wider policy information pertinent to their success, enabled group and private conversations with SME engagement professionals, and flagged up topics of critical importance. We also created a SME leadership team, which is still in its early stages, as a means of ensuring that we had input from other SMEs across the country and across multiple disciplines and we did this with a team of diverse individuals who all care about supporting one another and strengthening our role in the supply chain.
“I am sad that my tenure has come to an end, but it has been a real pleasure and a true privilege. I hope people feel that the SME group has made a difference and I look forward to seeing who takes over and develops the group further. #rail4sme.”
Requirements and process
a) You must be a RIA member in order to run for either role.
b) You must work for an SME under the UK Government definition*
c) You can apply for both roles.
d) Please send a short personal statement (no more than 500 words) to RIA Policy Manager Isabella Lawson at Isabella.lawson@riagb.org.uk laying out what you would hope to achieve in the role, what you would bring to the role, and how you would represent SMEs in the rail supply chain. Please also indicate what role(s) you would like to be considered for in your email. Please send all applications in by close of play Thursday 4th April 2024.
e) Applicants will be reviewed and shortlisted by RIA and the current Chair and Vice Chair, and shortlisted candidates for the Chair position will then be interviewed by the panel in w/c 8th April 2024. The successful and unsuccessful candidates will be informed of the results by mid April.
f) The announcement of the new Chair and Vice Chair will be made before the meeting of the RIA SME Group on Thursday 2 May in Sheffield, where a formal handover will take place.
