Scott Heath interviewed by Alexandre Abbuehl

Interview with Scott Heath recorded by Alexandre Abbuehl on 11 February 2026, at the Hitachi offices in Birmingham. Duration: 1 hour 58 minutes 3 seconds. [Start of interview] Childhood, near Crewe, working class upbringing, family life with his parents and sister, his parents' divorce, death of his father, support from grandmother in family life. Reflecting on lack of diversity in village and at school, Iraq war refugees welcomed at village, his parents' open-mindedness towards queer people. Experience using early internet and online chat room, impact on his awareness of his sexuality; neighbour working at Network Rail, career ambitions then related to cooking, medicine and chemistry. [00:12:10] Discussing impact of Section 28 at school and on sexual education, impact of Section 28 being repelled; coming out to his mother; experiences of online chat rooms and video chats, talking about sexuality with friends as a teenager; friendships at school, commuting to high school, helping his mother at work, getting first job at 15 yo; influence of watching the news on his views of the world, as a child and young adult; trip to Sarajevo, wanting to travel to the USA, ambitions when at school, wanting to leave his village; [00:30:44] Subjects chosen in sixth form, choosing to do a chemistry degree, choosing Imperial College London; dating a boy when in sixth form; moving to London for university, making friends, attending queer events on campus; students part of the LGBTQIA+ community, becoming Secretary of the Royal College of Sciences Union, degree in Chemistry with Management, sabbatical year managing the Students' Union, attending events with IQ (Imperial Queers) network, relationships with other student groups; changes in student loans policy, politics of the university and responsibilities as President of Students' Union; discovering Network Rail (NR) graduate programme through social media advertising; joining NR MSc. (Master of Science) project management graduate programme at University of Warwick, joining NR LGBTQIA+ network, Archway; details of NR course, site visits, Life Saving Rules, NR safety culture; taking part in student Pride in Brighton; [01:03:45] completing master’s, post-degree placement in London with NR, enhancement work on railways. Reflecting on innovation culture, findings from his master’s degree. Placement as Project Management Assistant based at Waterloo, train lengthening project, experience working in the office. Witnessing mild sexism, decision to come out at work, reaction from team; developing rapport with team, progressing with NR, training on unconscious bias, links between inclusion and safety culture. Move to work on design and detail designs; increasing involvement with Archway. Starting work on signalling at NR Southern. Coordinating events for Archway, inclusion at NR. Joining NR Research and Development and Innovation department in Milton Keynes, impact on commute and moving in with boyfriend; his responsibilities in new role, working with European commission, travelling to Europe and across the UK for work, gender parity and queer culture in Europe; his role in creating first Archway conference; leaving NR, new role at Thales Ground Transportation Systems, based in London; setting up Round-up network at Milon Keynes, organising panel speaker series, attend Pride event with Archway, impact of Archway on colleagues, being awarded a British Empire Medal in acknowledgement of his work with Archway; work for LGBTQIA+ inclusion in Thales, training session on trans identity and transitioning in the workplace, Employee Resource Groups, Thales LGBTQIA+ network and events, impact of the network on wider organisation; Thales acquired by Hitachi, comparing working cultures between Thales/Hitachi and NR. Personal life, current hobbies; current work at Hitachi, innovation activities for railways; the positive role of sexual identity in his life. [end of interview]

This interview was made as part of People Pride and Progress (PPP) project. The project was initiated in 2023 to record the stories and memories of the LGBTQIA+ community in a new oral history archive over two years. It aimed to connect past, present and future through intergenerational interviews, offering opportunities for colleagues across all parts of the rail industry to connect, reflect on and learn from each other’s lived experiences while creating an archive of oral history interviews.