Temporary Labour for GWR

Descriptions

At certain times throughout the year, GWR requires temporary staff to support with either routine station operations or specific planned events. Increased footfall during peak seasons is often reflected in an increased seasonal demand for temporary staff, whereas business as usual demands (eg to cover sickness or roster gaps) can fluctuate throughout the year, requiring a responsive temporary workforce that can flex with our needs. These temporary staff are specifically required to support with the following functions/roles:

• Gateline

• Station Assistance

• General Customer Service

• Events

• Projects/Possessions

Role Profiles will be shared during the tender exercise.

Objectives

The temporary labour contract must ensure continuity of operations, provide support for special events and meet project deadlines by supplementing the permanent GWR workforce with qualified temporary personnel.

Flexibility and responsiveness is essential to enable fulfilment of short-notice requests for either single shifts or longer-term cover, and proactive forecasting and modelling is required to ensure good coverage for pre-planned special events and projects/possessions across the network.

Scope of Services

Services will be requested as required, with forecasting and modelling taking place where possible, but with short-term requests required to ensure good coverage of business as usual operations.

Job roles required are Gateline, Station Assistance, general customer service, and support during events or projects/possessions.

The number of personnel required to support with the GWR operation may vary significantly but is estimated to be between 10,000-15,000 hours per quarter (based on 2024/25 figures). Expected working hours could fall anywhere between 06:00-23:00 (dependent on region, station and role), and shifts should generally be between 7 and 10 hours in duration.

Temporary labour assignments, particularly ad hoc requests, could be located at any station across the GWR network, see GWR Route Map in the Appendix. Stations that annually have special events and will require a volume of forecasted support include Cheltenham Spa, Bath Spa, Henley-on-Thames, Reading, Castle Cary and Newquay.

The duration of engagement could vary significantly, based on the role, location and reason for request. For short-notice sickness cover the requirement could be for just one or two shifts. Longer-term sickness coverage, or support with filling a roster due to other absence, could mean an engagement of many weeks or even months. A special event or possession, dependent on scale and duration, could require a booking of three or four consecutive shifts, up to a few weeks or even longer.

Temporary labour support at GWR is often required more at weekends (particularly Sunday) than during the week, so the labour provider should note that coverage of weekend shifts is a key requirement.

Specific tasks and responsibilities are outlined in the Role Profiles included in the Appendix, with training provided where necessary, and temporary staff should also be expected to comply with any reasonable request from a Station Manager.