These included the delivery of the new train fleets and Network Rail's infrastructure upgrades and, since September 2004, he has held the position of Chief Executive Officer.

Tony was Commercial Director of Alstom (the provider of Virgin's Pendolino trains) before joining Virgin Trains. A native of the West Midlands, he is married with two children.

Favourite activities? "Golf and family holidays. I'm often described by colleagues as a 'bit of a bandit.'"

Little known fact: "Riding scary roller coasters, although my children tell me I'm getting too old to go to Disney, Florida, each year."

Before that he was Managing Director, Virgin CrossCountry, following over two years as MD of Wales & West / Wales & Borders. Chris joined British Rail from school in 1981 and has wide experience in running railways across the UK. When he's not eating, sleeping and breathing trains, Chris enjoys cycling and travelling. He has two small children and lives near Coventry.

Favourite holiday spot? "The station buffet at Alp Grum in Switzerland. It's situated on the fabulously scenic railway from St Moritz to Tirano in Italy, which I have cycled and travelled by train."

Top travel tip? "Always thank the helpful staff who work on the railways all over the world."

Paul has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the railway industry. He started his career with the Sea Containers Group, a maritime container leasing business, before switching to the rail industry in 1994. He has worked for Angel Trains and latterly with FirstGroup as Commercial Director-Rail.

Spare time activities? "music, motorcycling and being a Publican in Southern Ireland."

He joined Virgin Trains in 1999 and led the project to replace Virgin Train's entire rolling stock fleet before taking responsibility for Procurement in 2004.

Away from the office Andy is a keen golfer and enthusiastic cook... twice a finalist in the Virgin Trains Annual Cooking Competition and recent winner of the Virgin Trains Sandwich of the Year competition.

Favourite dish? "Just like my ideal golf game - plenty of greens, quite spicy, a few meaty hits and occasionally fiery."

He was successively political, transport and City correspondent and now he has to answer the types of questions he used to ask - which is harder!

Favourite activities? "Spending time with family, travelling and cycling (in between London's criminals stealing his bikes)."

Before he joined Virgin Trains, Graham was involved in the launch of Eurostar - a role that combined his love of rail with his interest in Europe and languages. Graham is Chair of the Commercial Board of Association of Train Operating Companies and a Director of National Rail Enquiries.

Graham and his three boys love cricket and are devoted West Ham fans. He also enjoys piano, tennis and golf, and is a member of his local church council.

Best footy moments? "Watching my home team Cheltenham Town win the FA Trophy at Wembley and get promoted to the Football League."

He has also held a number of senior regional positions with operational and commercial responsibility in the rail network. Patrick joined the rail industry as a graduate trainee in 1991.

Phil has held various positions in the Finance team, initially having responsibility for business plans and accounts. He was Finance Director of West Coast before joining the Executive team.

We're the most experienced long-distance rail operator in the UK, and have transformed the West Coast line into UK's most used and most popular long-distance rail franchise.

We want to use our passion for innovation and customer service to deliver attractive rail services in other countries.

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We achieved the accolade in December 2010 by meeting the Gold standard for 191 indicators - 29 more than the 165 required to meet the standard.

The assessors found a very strong sense of pride in the organisation amongst staff. They said that it "spurs people on to perform beyond expectations and offer to help out when there are challenges. Almost without exception people regard the organisation as a great place to work."

Virgin Trains was praised for its Vision, universally regarded as the unique difference between us and our competitors. When looking at employee engagement the assessors found that: "Virgin Trains" people are motivated to achieve the goals of the company and committed to both securing high levels of customer satisfaction and growing the business."

The assessment also found that staff feel they are very well-informed about their job and the company, and that there is a strong learning culture.

As the UK's leading children's cancer charity, CLIC Sargent is the only organisation to offer them all round care and support and plays a crucial role in helping patients and family members cope by providing a range of services both at home and during hospital stays.

Virgin Trains is proud to support CLIC Sargent and be part of the journey. Our staff and customers have raised over £280,000 since the partnership began in 2009 through both fundraising and sponsorship activities at our stations, in our offices and beyond, and we've pledged to raise another £100,000 in 2011. Thanks to all our staff and customers who have donated their time and money to help this very worthy cause.