Business profile
Stokes Associates provides the rail industry with the kind of specialist support that comes only from hands-on experience
F
ounder and managing director of Stokes Associates, Gary Stokes, gained his railway experience at the
Tyseley Depot in the days of British Rail and rose through the ranks to become depot manager. Stokes went on to set up the Soho Depot - the base for Central Trains’ Class 323 electric multiple units. Positioned at the ‘sharp end’ of railway operations, Stokes directed the technical performance growth of the new fleet and implemented a companywide cleaning strategy which prompted a dramatic decline in customer complaints. This, says Stokes, as well as other achievements, was down to ‘excellent relationships between customers and suppliers’.
He set up Stokes Associates in January 2008 with the view to bringing his wealth of experience and applying it to the UK and overseas rail industry. The company has also obtained ISO 9001 Quality and ISO 14001 Environmental certification.
Investors in People accreditation followed in 2007.
The company’s deputy managing
director Paul Hagger, a mechanical and metallurgical engineering specialist, boasts a history in the design and development of the steel castings manufactured by William Cook Rail and used on Electrostar and Turbostar bogies. After a two-year stint as Halcrow’s principal supplier, Hagger went on to run the Long Marston-based Praxis Engineering, where Stokes joined his client base. Hagger said: ‘The success of any organisation, and in particular people- based companies such as consultancies, comes only from experience of the people within that organisation,’ – and experience is something the pair have in abundance. ‘Neither myself or Gary are strangers to pulling on the necessary PPE and getting under locomotives, or any rolling stock and tackling problems head-
on,’ he added. Practical application
All types of traction and rolling stock have been met in Stokes Associates’ work, from first generation diesel multiple units and diesel locomotives to modern electric rolling stock. Advice on overhaul options for a heritage DMU is not untypical through to the provision of training on New York City Transit’s new Japanese built EMU’s. An early assignment at Norwich Crown Point Depot established new management processes for staff training, long-term development and competence assessment. Stokes Associates continues to provide support on individual safety and training projects related to rolling stock maintenance at the Norwich depot. In addition, the firm supports both internal and external auditing as well as carrying out compliance work.
September 2013 Page 141
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