How do you get colleague morale back on track?

After a tough stretch navigating COVID-19 and changing ownership, TransPennine Express (TPE) found itself with disrupted services, frustrated commuters, and low morale amongst its people.

They needed more than a quick fix. It wasn’t about smoothing over cracks and hoping for the best; it was time for a full-on reset. So, they asked us to help turn employee engagement around, get teams feeling good about working at TPE again, and restore passenger confidence from the inside out.

Getting insight from the people who mattered

Step one: listen closely to the people at the heart of TPE – not just people at HQ, but frontline colleagues in stations, on trains, and face-to-face with customers.

We talked to their Colleague Panel, people working across offices, depots, and trains who were eager to share exactly what was missing, what worked, and what definitely didn’t.

Vividly informed by their powerful insights, we developed a fresh, multi-channel internal campaign to bring TPE’s refurbished vision (“We’re going places”) and four clear values to life—values their people genuinely wanted to embrace:

  • Be yourself
  • Make someone’s day
  • Raise the bar
  • Pull together

We launched the “We’re going places” vision and core values at a Leadership Conference at Manchester’s iconic Etihad Stadium. The day was built around team-building for 350 managers, strategic conversations, and fun, interactive sessions.

TPE Leaders Man City Jonny Walton4B9A3874 copy

Managers received easy-to-use digital ‘cascade kits’, designed by us to help them inspire teams locally after the big day.

We also brightened workspaces everywhere with colourful posters and eye-catching bunting, planned colleague takeover months for their vision and values, and launched an engaging quarterly magazine. Tangible reminders that everyone at TPE was steering towards brighter days ahead.

Results on the right track

Sometimes, numbers get straight to the point. Here’s the difference our work with TPE made:

  • 98% of managers loved the launch event (that’s everyone, right?)
  • 75% felt motivated to do their best (engagement you can actually feel)
  • Colleague engagement jumped 5%, reaching an impressive 75%
  • Net Promoter Score significantly lifted to +9, proving happier staff means happier passengers
  • And best of all, 72% of managers said they’d recommend TPE as a great place to work

And we’re incredibly proud that our work with TransPennine Express has picked up some fantastic awards:

  • Internal Comms and Engagement Awards: Best Internal Communications (Transport and Logistics Sector), Gold Winner 2025
  • PRCA Dare Awards: Employee Engagement or Internal Communications Winner 2025

“Definition helped us to embed our new vision and values with managers and front-line colleagues across our network and in turn, we’ve seen engagement scores sore, turnover reduce and as a result, customer satisfaction has also increased. I’m pleased that we’re well on our way to being an industry business once again, and that’s all thanks to the dedication of our fabulous teams.”

Catherine Unsworth, Internal Communications Lead, TransPennine Express

“The team at Definition have been crucial in helping us launch and embed our new vision and values and introduce new internal communication channels. Since working with them, we’ve seen an increase in colleague morale, which has positively impacted both our colleague satisfaction and customer satisfaction scores.”

Chris Jackson, Manager Director, TransPennine Express