Mary Kenny

Chief Executive Officer, EversholtR ail

Chief Executive Officer, Eversholt Rail

Mary Kenny is proof that you never know where you might end up. She planned a career in banking following a degree in Business Studies and has ended up as Chief Executive Officer of rolling stock owner Eversholt Rail.

She became involved with the company in 1997 when it was acquired by HSBC, which was still Midland Bank when she joined.

“I was very much the junior ‘bag carrier’ on the team back then. The bank asked me to work on helping to integrate finance, which I did for six weeks, with the promise that I could then go back to the bank.”

Mary was convinced to stay when she was offered a role as commercial manager, but she ended up returning to the bank until she was persuaded, in 2007, to use her knowledge of the Eversholt Rail business and its people to prepare it for a potential sale. It was meant to be a short-term arrangement, but Mary was offered the role of CEO and felt compelled to stay…

“I left originally because I was frustrated with the culture. I came back because I had an opportunity to change it.

“I was given the chance to run a business that I’d worked in and that was a fantastic opportunity because I could then change everything that ever frustrated me - there could be no more excuses. It was a really exciting time for the business and I was asking a lot of its people, so when we found new owners, and while I had the opportunity to stay with the bank, this had become my baby - and my family. I felt I had a responsibility to the team.”

While she doesn’t believe the job of optimising a company’s culture is ever complete, Mary’s approach to the people in her business is what has enabled Eversholt Rail to attract talent from some of the biggest banks and law firms in London, all seeking something that bit different.

“I’m very lucky because, for the size of this balance sheet, which gives me the intellectual challenge, I’ve only got 110 people, so I can look them all in the eye. This is like a family sweet shop, where you expect everyone to roll up their sleeves and muck in, but it has the discipline of a big bank.”

She describes that ‘sweet shop’ image as “flexibility and friendliness”, which is a big part of the culture change she was looking for.

“It’s about being able to go and support your family if you need to. If you have a crisis at home I would rather you come in and share that with me and your colleagues, otherwise I have a stressed individual, and stress brings risk into an organisation.”

One of the ways in which Mary feels she has managed to attract talented individuals to Eversholt Rail is the springboard that the railway provides for their careers.

“In a world where it’s hard to find a ‘job for life’, you can very easily find that scenario in the rail industry. It might not be a job at Eversholt Rail, but look at the big projects happening in rail, where gaining some skills and understanding makes the people involved very employable for the rest of their lives. And it’s not just about engineers and train drivers. All sorts of roles are needed in the industry.

“What I like about working in the railway is that it’s tangible. Everyone understands what a train is, from your 18-month-old nephew to your granddad. Most people have a fondness for trains or some sort of affiliation with them.”

Mary’s sociable personality is perhaps surprising for a CEO. She comes from an extended Irish family and has 52 cousins, some of whom she describes as being more like brothers and sisters, so she has grown up as a very social animal who is happiest on a Friday night, with her clutch bag in her hand, and ready to go out.

But it’s that sociable attitude that makes Mary an inspiring leader in the industry and has led the company to succeed.

“I don’t stand on ceremony. I’m likely to be seen running up the office with my sleeves rolled up - I’m in there, I’m part of it. My personality is that I will always be approachable - I’m never going to be the grey-haired person in the corner with my office door closed. That isn’t who I am. I look at the person behind the role, so engage with me and form a bond with me as a person because I form my best business relationships using my gut instincts.” ■

“I left because I was frustrated with the culture. I came back because I had an opportunity to change it”