Helen Louise Smith (b. July 1976) was announced as General Manager of both SVR(H) and the Guarantee Company on 11 October 2019, in succession to Nick Ralls. She was born in Yorkshire.
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Prior to the SVR
Helen was previously Deputy Director at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset. Her earlier roles were as General Manager at The Fusilier Museum in Bury and Operations Director at the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham.[1]
She graduated in 1997 from the University College of Ripon and York St John as a Bachelor in Communication Arts, and in 2001 obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the University of Huddersfield[2].
At the SVR
As with her predecessor, the new GM’s arrival was followed by several serious events, in this case Storm Dennis and severe flooding, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic which coincided with a major project at Falling Sands Viaduct, and landslips at Sterns and Alveley Sidings. She oversaw the huge interruption and recovery operations that followed throughout 2020.