It’s been a cold month here in the UK, but that doesn’t mean that senior hiring activity has frozen. Check out all the big moves from across the Transport & Infrastructure sectors from January…

Jacobs

Have appointed Bob Pragada as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. Pragada has been with the business for 17 years, most recently as President and Chief Operating Officer.

Network Rail

Neil Holm has been appointed as Managing Director for the Transpennine Route Upgrade. Holm has been Programme Director for the Transpennine Route Upgrade since January 2021.

WSP

Blair Mitchell moves internally to become Managing Director for Water UK for WSP. Mitchell has been Head of Water UK since 2020.

Sharon Young also joins as MEP Stations Lead. She leaves Crossrail where she has been the Engineering Director on Bond Street Station.

MTR Elizabeth Line

Mike Bagshaw returns to MTREL as Managing Director. Bagshaw has been with MTR Corporation since 2016 most recently as Chief Operating Officer MTR UK. He was previously Performance and Planning Director, MTR Elizabeth line.

United Utilities

Simon Chadwick has become Chief Operating Officer following over 17 years with the business. He has most recently been Water, Wastewater & Digital Service Director.

AWE

Emma-Jane Houghton has been appointed as Commercial Director for one of AWE’s major programmes. She leaves the Cabinet Office where she has been Commercial Director seconded to New Hospital Programme.

Costain

Former Royal Navy commodore Bob Anstey has joined Costain to lead the newly combined Defence and Nuclear businesses.

Mace Consult

Have appointed Davendra Dabasia as Chief Operating Officer for its consultancy division. Dabasia was previously Mace’s Managing Director for international consultancy.

Amey

Have named former government minister Lord Colin Moynihan as its new Chair. Moynihan, formerly a junior minister for energy, has taken over from Ian Tyler, who leaves the position after more than four years.

Also joining is former Group Commercial Director at Story Contracting and Senior Commercial Manager for VolkerRail, Dave Prior. He joins as Commercial Director Rail.

TD Bidco

National Infrastructure Commission boss Sir John Armitt has been appointed to the board of the company that owns Tilbury Douglas. Armitt was appointed a Non-Executive Director of TD Bidco shortly after the announcement that he had been granted another term as Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission.

Fujitsu

Ronnie Abraham joins as MD & Head of Private Sector. He leaves Cognizant where he has been Managing Partner and AVP, Manufacturing Logistics and Transport for UK&I.

Octavius Infrastructure

Have rejigged its senior management structure. Gavin Pritchard becomes Managing Director of Highways and Matt Smith Managing Director of Rail. Both new roles will report directly to John Dowsett, CEO, and both retain their Exec and Octavius Infrastructure Board responsibilities.

Stagecoach UK

Chief executive Martin Griffiths is retiring following more than 25 years with the company. Chief Financial officer Ross Paterson is also stepping down. They will leave the business in March after a structured handover period.

Current chairman Ray O’Toole will now become Executive Chairman with immediate effect - leading the executive team - while Director of Finance Bruce Dingwall will become Chief Financial Officer from 1 February. Carla Stockton-Jones will continue to lead the day-to-day operations of the business.

UK Parliament

Chris Elliott has been appointed as Managing Director of Strategic Estates. He joins in March from Jaguar Land Rover where he has been Property Director - Capital Programmes, Corporate Real Estate & Workplace. Chris was previously with Heathrow Airport in a number of senior roles in capital projects, including Programme Delivery Director and Procurement Director for Development.

Geobear

Have announced Peter Luby as Group COO. Luby joins from Network Rail where, most recently, he was the Head of Capital Delivery delivering works on behalf of HS2.

Winder Phillips Associates

Matthew Lee joins as Partner. He leaves Vivarail where he has been Business Development Director.

McLaren

Have announced that Sir Robert McAlpine Business Development Manager, Matt Sheridan, has joined its major projects division as Business Development Director.

Tata Consultancy Services

Chris Lewis joins as Travel & Transport Consulting, Executive Director Europe to help the organisation with its investment in the UK transport sector.  He will have a focus on rail and digital/technology services. Lewis has most recently been VP, Retail Transport & Logistics Sector Sales Director at Atos.

Metro Trains Melbourne

Aline Frantzen has been appointed to Chief Operating Officer at Metro Trains Melbourne and will start in the role in April 2023. Frantzen will leave Keolis where she is currently Chief Executive Officer US Bus Operations.

Deloitte

Alex Luke has joined as a Director within the Financial Advisory division. He leaves DfT where he has most recently been Deputy Director Rail Workforce Pensions Reform.

Jacobs

Paul Hammond joins as Senior Director (Economics) in the specialist business case & economics team. Hammond leaves Steer where he has been a Director.

January is always a popular time to reflect on business plans and assess any changes that might mean for leadership teams. If you are thinking of making any changes get in touch to find out how we can help.