November has brought us a cautiously optimistic autumn budget, a royal engagement and the first flurries of snow.

The Christmas lights are going up and the country is starting to feel a lot like Christmas, so let’s see who made some big changes in transport and infrastructure before the Christmas rush begins.

Abellio West Midlands Trains

Following the appointment of Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde as Managing Director, West Midlands Trains have announced their new senior leadership team:

Adrian Thompson has been appointed to the new role of HR Director and Mark Steward will become Operations Director for the new franchise.

Current London Midland Asset Maintenance Director, Neil Bamford, will become Engineering Director. Andy Camp will be the new Commercial Director after several years doing the same job at Greater Anglia.

Moving into the Finance Director role will be David Lindsay, who was the Finance Lead on the Abellio bid team for WMT.

Richard Brooks, the current LM Commercial Director, will take on the role of West Midlands Customer Service Director, covering the area in and around Birmingham, and will work closely with West Midlands Rail and the West Midlands Combined Authority. The equivalent role for the West Coast part of the franchise will be Andrew Conroy.

Jane Fisher will also come on board a Transition and Projects Director after working on the West Midlands bid for the last two years, as Deputy Director.

London City Airport

Robert Sinclair has been appointed as CEO of London City Airport to replace Declan Collier who is stepping down. He is currently the CEO of Bristol Airport where he has held the position since 2008.

Wates

Wates has appointed Rod Holdsworth, former Finance Director at Morrison, as Interim Chief Financial Officer in place of David Allen who is acting as CEO following Andrew Davies’ move to Carillion.

Arriva Rail London

Oliver Gant joins as HR Director, he moves from East Midlands Trains where he was Head of HR.

Bristol Water

Mick Axtell, has resigned as Chief Financial Officer at Bristol Water. His replacement is yet to be announced.

Arup

Have appointed Tom Bridges as Director of Cities Advisory. He leaves Leeds City Council where he was Chief Officer for Economy and Regeneration.

AECOM

New Chief Executive EMIA Lara Polini has restructured her top team. David Barwell, who previously headed up the Middle East and India has been appointed at Chief Executive for the UK & Ireland. His predecessor Patrick Flaherty, will lead AECOM’s Integrated Management Services Division.

Head of Civil Infrastructure, Richard Robinson, is also taking on the role of Chief Operating Officer for EMIA.

HS2

HS2 has unveiled Neil Hayward as its new HR Chief following the departure of Peter Gregory. Neil joins from the Post Office where he was People Director.

Carillion Powerlines

Nick Sarai stands down as the JV’s Project Director after 18 months in post. He is moving overseas again to Australia. Tony Slater will succeed him as Project Director for CPL’s Midland Mainline Contract.

BAM Construct

James Wimpenny has been appointed the new Chief Executive of BAM Construct UK, taking over following the retirement of Graham Cash.

Spencer Group

Mark Hughes has been promoted to Infrastructure Director at Spencer Group, he moves in to the role from his current position as Head of Track.

Meridian CAV

Daniel Ruiz has been appointed as Chief Executive at Meridian, he joins from Dynniq UK Ltd where he was Managing Director.

West Coast Midlands Combined Authority

Anne Shaw has been appointed as Director of Network Resilience, she moves from Birmingham City Council where she was Assistant Director of Transportation and Connectivity.

Sustrans

Have appointed Anita Konrad as its National Director for England, a new position responsible for strategy across England outside London. She joins from Groundwork, where she is Director, Strategic Partnerships and Programmes. Matt Winfield has been appointed Sustrans’ London Director.

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