Matt Smith interviewed by Christopher Nairne

Interview with Matt Smith recorded by Christopher Nairne on 1st May 2026 at Bluecoat Charity, Chester. Duration: 3 hr 36 min 57 secs. [Start of interview, track 01] Childhood, North West England, family background, education and school; current role as Engineer consultant at AtkinsRéalis, rail and other projects; childhood, first house he lived in, his parents, how they met, their respective education and career; moving house to rural area, having horse and pony, mother’s job, father’s job; schools attended, view and place of religion and faith in his life then and now; coming out to his parents, their reaction. [00:33:25] Religion and same-sex marriage; family background and generations, details about his grandparents; Childhood interests, railway and photography, friendship, neighbourhood, Cheshire then compared to now; [00:58:10] experience at secondary school, homophobic bullying and impact on him; how he felt about media coverage of civil partnership legalisation; realising he was gay as a teenager, LGBTQIA+ students at school; favouritism and unconscious bias amongst teachers, impact on students; [01:36:19] friendships from school, life after school of some of the LGBTQIA+ students; homophobic bullying at school; his interest in geography, experience at University of Liverpool, friendships ; how school influenced his interest in people and human geography, enjoyment of learning, doing a master’s degree, reasons for not deciding not to continue with a PhD; joining Atkins after completing master’s. [end of track 01] [Track 02] Changes observed in transport industry over the last 10 years. Relationships when at university, open-mined environment at university. Coming out after university, father’s reaction; valuing meaningful connection and relationship; [00:25:36] coming out to mother, her reaction; discussing religion and evolution of his personal faith, how he felt about the way sex-same marriage has been debated at local churches, importance of campaigning; [00:40:18] what motivated to work in transport planning, application to Atkins and other companies, interview and assessment process. Joining Atkins in 2016, impressions of teams, work as part of transport policy and strategy team for 3 years; moving to live in Manchester, living as more openly queer; move to Intelligent mobility and smart technologies, the way team worked and was managed; getting involved with Atkins LGBTQIA+ staff network, becoming co-chair, types of support required by colleagues, examples, being promoted to senior consultant, challenge of balancing job and role on the staff network. [01:00:54] Being co-chair of Equilibrium, Atkins LGBTQIA+ staff network, impact on his job, other chairs of Equilibrium, reaching out to other LGBTQIA+ network in rail industry to link different networks, being a founding member of Journey, cross rail industry LGBTQIA+ network, open to all, founded in 2023. Getting involved in People Pride and Progress via Journey. Events taken part of with Journey, including Pride train at the Greatest Gathering 2025. Reflecting on his work as co-chair of Equilibrium and Journey, example of ways he has supported others, examples, being proud in his work and contribution to the community. What he enjoys about his role as Principal Consultant, how transport planning has changed, vision-led planning, focus on sustainability; how he envisage next steps of his career, reflecting on career and support in workplace so far; discussing where transport and society is going, work on current project trial of digital pay-as-you-go ticketing; how he feels about current society, what feels positive, what feels concerning, his interest in working more locally to make a difference to a local area, his future plans for personal life; his hopes for the legacy of People Pride and Progress oral histories. [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.