By now, you’ve heard that HS2 Chief Executive Mark Thurston is stepping down from his role at the end of September. This development begs a crucial question: who will succeed him?

All eyes are looking to HS2 to see what their next move is going to be.

Here are the pros and cons of the possible options for the next leader of Europe’s largest infrastructure project:

1. Recruiting Internally

Advantage: If you have the talent with the potential to step up then making a promotion is an extremely positive message to send to the whole organisation. It can be a good move if you want continuity of direction and provides a successor with familiarity with the project.

Disadvantage: Looking internally is a normally a smallish pool of potential candidates and will most likely be someone taking a large step up or across into the role.

2. Recruiting from Within the Supply Chain

Advantage: Familiarity with the project.

Disadvantage: You risk harming your suppliers capability to deliver and it could cause friction with some of the supply chain.

3. Recruiting from Other UK Rail Clients

Advantage: They will understand the market and the political environment of how this type of programme operates.

Disadvantage: It’s a tight pool of candidates and extremely few will have the experience to deal with this scale of programme.

4. Recruiting from Other Major Programme Sectors within the UK

Advantage: Opens up different talent options and skillsets.

Disadvantage: Learning curve on rail experience.

5. Recruiting from Major Rail Projects from Overseas

Advantage: Could get a highly experienced candidate that’s been there and done this before.

Disadvantage: Could be expensive and there is a potential learning curve for an overseas candidate on how the UK construction market operates.

It’s a big job to fill. It’ll be interesting to see who steps into the hot seat!

Got a tricky senior role to fill and need help finding great people? Drop me an email and let’s brainstorm.