Elaine Holt, Ian King and Tom Harris appointed to HS2 board

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has today (14 July 2020) announced the appointment of 3 non-executive directors to the HS2 board to strengthen oversight and scrutiny of the UK’s largest infrastructure project. Elaine Holt, Ian King and Tom Harris will respectively take up the roles of infrastructure specialist, government representative and community engagement leader, to improve the way that HS2 Ltd is managed and instil greater discipline of the project.

These appointments are the latest step in the government’s commitment to reset the HS2 programme, strengthen the leadership team, and provide greater accountability to ensure decisions made by the company deliver on the government’s priorities.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

"When we gave HS2 the go-ahead, we made a clear commitment to draw a line under past problems and to move forward with a strong grip of the project and a laser-like focus on cost control and transparency.

The appointments of Elaine Holt, Tom Harris and Ian King to the Board of HS2 Ltd will deliver on this promise and ensure this vital project has the robust leadership it requires as it drives our country’s economic recovery from COVID-19 and delivers better connectivity to level up communities across the north and Midlands."

Ian King will represent the government’s interests on the HS2 Ltd board, bringing with him more than 2 decades of senior leadership and project delivery experience. He will provide advice to the HS2 Ltd board on the government’s approach to issues and will report to the Transport Secretary and HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson.

Elaine Holt joins as a railway and infrastructure specialist, having had experience in executive and non-executive roles in the transport sector, project delivery and railway operations.

Tom Harris, a former parliamentarian, will strengthen the company’s focus on community engagement, further ensuring that those impacted by the project continue to be listened to and treated with the respect they deserve. The appointment comes as the project enters its construction phase and increases its activity and scale along the route and across the business.

About Ian King

Ian King is the lead Non-Executive Director for the Department for Transport. Ian joined Marconi in 1976 as a graduate entrant, working in defence electronics manufacturing. He served as a Finance Director at Marconi Electronic Systems from 1992 to 1998. Ian was Chief Executive of Alenia Marconi when Marconi and British Aerospace merged in 1999 to form BAE Systems. After the merger, he became Group Strategy and Planning Director for BAE Systems. In 2008 Ian became the Chief Executive of BAE Systems and held this position until his retirement in June 2017.

About Elaine Holt

With 30 years of experience in the transport and service industry, Elaine is highly experienced in working in complex, highly regulated environments which are subject to intense public, political and media scrutiny. In addition to her wide, board level experience in construction and infrastructure she also has extensive railway operations experience and has a successful track record of running large customer operations and managing organisations through periods of significant change.

Elaine has served over 6 years as a Non-Executive Director (NED) of Highways England overseeing the delivery of the largest investment in the country’s strategic road network in 40 years. She is currently Senior Independent NED for Bristol Holding Ltd, ensuring that Bristol City Council’s investments in new businesses in energy, housing and waste recycling are governed correctly and deliver the social and economic value required of them.

Prior to this, she held a number of senior roles within the UK rail industry including Chairman and CEO of Directly Operated Railways, Chairman of East Coast and Managing Director of First Capital Connect. Elaine was also Executive Vice President Guest Experience at Carnival UK running all operations of P&O Cruises and Cunard.

About Tom Harris

Tom Harris is a public affairs consultant and a former Labour MP. After serving as a minister in the Department for Transport he led the Scottish Brexit campaign and founded his own company, Third Avenue Public Affairs.

Tom is a Member of the Expert Challenge Panel supporting the government’s independent Rail Review.

Tom studied journalism at Napier College (now Napier University) in Edinburgh. He worked as staff writer on Business Scotland magazine before joining the staff of the East Kilbride News (1986-1988) and then the Paisley Daily Express (1988-1990).

These appointments have been made in accordance with the Governance Code for public appointments.

About HS2

High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd is the company building Britain’s new high speed railway. We are a public company, owned entirely by the Department for Transport. It is laying 345 miles of brand new track connecting the North, Midlands and South, helping to bring Britain closer together. The project is split into phases, with Phase One now underway between the West Midlands and London and Phase Two planned to extend the line further north towards Manchester and Leeds. HS2 trains will continue running on the existing rail network towards Newcastle and Scotland, stopping at over 25 stations in total, including eight of Britain’s ten largest cities.

HS2 Ltd has recently awarded £14 billion in contracts and is hiring close to 500 new employees in a range of skills. The supply chain’s presence on site is also set to rise from 10,000 to 16,000 workers in the next 18 months, providing a boost to the construction sector and wider UK economy.

For further information visit https://www.hs2.org.uk/