A trailblazing Hull woman who left school with few qualifications and became managing director of Hull Trains is dedicating her OBE to others who have been in her situation.
Louise Cheeseman, 64, left St Mary’s College in Hull at 16 and “didn’t know what I wanted to do”. After joining the rail sector as a conductor in 2001, she had a successful career in transport and recently learned she had been awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for ‘services to transport and diversity’.
She said: “I was completely stunned, I had no idea that I was going to get one and I don’t know who nominated me. I dedicate this OBE to all the women like me who have left school with very few qualifications and are, like me, juggling trying to have a family life and a career.”
Louise had been working for Yorkshire Bank, but applied for a job at Hull Paragon Interchange after “seeing an advert in the Hull Daily Mail”. The wage was enough for her to fund both her daughters going to university.
When she started, she was one of “very, very few women conductors” and had also “never been on a train in my life”.
(Image: Supplied)
She said: “When I joined the railways as a conductor at Hull Paragon station aged 40 years, a single mother with two daughters, I was just doing the job because I needed the money to support them, never thinking I’d end up becoming Managing Director of Hull Trains and leading London Buses and everything that my career has given me.
“That is why I am so keen for people to know about this award because if I can do it, anybody can.” Louise set up Women in Bus and Coach (WiBC) to encourage women in the profession.
She said: “We have a shortage in the rail sector, but it is even worse in the bus and coach sector, and only 9% of people in the industry are women.
(Image: Hull Trains)
“There is such opportunity there for women wanting to make a career as far as they want to go. People just aren’t aware of it. The greatest achievement of my career is becoming a trailblazer for women in the transport sector.
“It is one of the industries that will recruit for willingness and train for skill, so if you leave school with limited qualifications for whatever reason you should never be put off joining the sector. You can go as far as you want to go, as hopefully I have proved.”
Louise is currently Non-Executive Director at Go-Ahead, Non-Executive Director at Transport for Wales, Chair of WiBC, and Chair of Trustees for Rebuilding Futures Alliance which encourages low-risk ex-offenders into the transport industry.
Last year, Louise was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Hull. Louise, who still lives locally and supports Hull City, said she hopes to demonstrate what girls born and educated in Hull can achieve even if they leave school at 16.