Background:

Michael is an experienced and valued member of the Cleshar Board of Directors. He displays insight, direction and democratic leadership in his role as Operations Director.

Michael is ultimately responsible for the success of all projects, playing a key role in selecting the right resources for the right projects to ensure that key deliverables are understood.

His role also requires him to ensure that programmes have been critically mapped and are executed on time to meet the both the client's and company's objectives. 

Michael maintains constant liaison with both the client and the project staff to ensure that key objectives are fully understood and achieved.

His pragmatic approach to operational planning and his dynamic in people management make Michael a well respected, yet approachable member of the team.

Background:

George joined LPA Group in 2000 as Managing Director of LPA Channel Electric and subsequently, in addition to this role, became responsible for the LPA Group Sales and Marketing Operation.

Providing quality products with excellent customer service was the constant goal in supplying to aerospace, defence and rail transport customers both in the UK and overseas.

George retired from his full time roles in December, 2011 and now works for LPA Group companies providing consultancy services.

Background:

Steve Diksa joined Bridgeway Consulting from Network Rail where he was the H&S Specialist Trackside, responsible for developing Sentinel, safety standards and policies on track worker safety.

A career railwayman Steve joined the railway in 1978 as a trackman in Permanent Way Gang 22. Post-privatisation he worked for Balfour Beatty from 1995-97 in the Eastern IMC, as a Trainer and then Training and Development Manager, assuming overall responsibility for the Training and Competence team of circa 120 staff for the delivery of training for 8,000 staff.

In 1997 he joined Jarvis as General Manager running the Training and Competence team of 150 delivering training for a work force numbering 10,000. By now a leading exponent of railway safety dynamics Steve was appointed chief executive of Rail Training Audit Services, then part of Railtrack, in 1999. From this position he moved into Network Rail as Safety Competence Development Specialist before moving to Bridgeway Consulting as the Assurance Director in 2008. Within Bridgeway Consulting Steve oversees the Company’s HSQE, Training, Security and Business Development functions. 

Background:

Howard Collins is Chief Operating Officer of London Underground (LU), a role he has held since March 2009.  He is responsible for the day to day operation of the LU network and 12,000 staff. 

Howard has 33 years of experience in public transport including Buses, Docklands Light Railway and has worked in almost every operational role within LU.  He led the service recovery of the Underground after the bombings in July 2005 and is the lead media spokesperson for the company.

Howard was appointed as a trustee to the Transport for London Pension fund in 2005 and as a member of the British Transport Police Authority in September 2009, he is a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists and Fellow of Institute of Directors.

Background:

David Coles is a senior railway engineer with more than 30 years’ experience overseeing the design, construction, operation and maintenance of railways in both the UK and overseas.  His early career was spent working with British Rail designing and maintaining railway infrastructure including track, bridges, tunnels and large stations.  At privatisation, David joined Railtrack as an Area Contracts Manager supervising one of the newly formed Infrastructure Maintenance Contractors.  In 1998 he moved into frontline railway operations managing Railtrack GW’s Control and delay attribution teams and later took on responsibility for project managing all track renewals in the West of England with a budget of £60m p.a.

In 2003, David joined Scott Wilson as Engineering Director and worked extensively overseas in Europe, Asia and Australia, providing expert technical advice to railway owners, contractors and banks providing the funding for a number of major PPP railway projects such as the High Speed Line South in the Netherlands. 

In 2010 David joined Amey’s Rail Consulting Division as Head of Engineering where he is responsible for developing technical excellence, both within design and across the wider Amey ‘End-to-end’ offering, and for business development in the UK and overseas.

David is currently Chairman of the Railway Civil Engineers’ Association and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Background:

Tim O'Toole was appointed to the Board of FirstGroup plc as a Non-Executive Director in May 2009 and subsequently appointed Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer in June 2010 before taking on the role of Chief Executive on 1 November 2010.

Tim, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was, until the end of April 2009, Managing Director, London Underground.  He joined Transport for London in 2003, prior to which he was President and CEO of Consolidated Rail Corporation in the United States. He is a Non-Executive Director of CSX Corporation, a freight transportation company in North America.

Background:

Craig King has almost 30 years experience in the engineering and training sectors with a particular specialism in rail transport. A degree qualified Electrical & Electronics Engineer and with an additional first class honours degree in education, Craig has successfully blended both subject areas to develop the UK’s largest and most diverse private railway training provider.

Craig joined the industry as an apprentice and held various technical positions to the final grade of Principal Technical Officer, before joining the management grades under the Director of Signal & Telecommunications Engineering within British Rail.

Following privatisation in 1996, Craig joined the College of Railway Technology in York. Three acquisitions and several promotions later Craig became the Managing Director of the business now known as TQ Catalis.

Key objectives for Craig and the business include retaining and developing client relationships, delivery of high quality products, growth of the business by increasing product and sector range, identification of potential business acquisitions and close control of overheads

Craig is a registered engineer with the Engineering Council (ECUK), Chairman of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers Professional Development Committee and an executive board member of the Derby & Derbyshire Rail forum.

Background:

David Franks, Chairman of the Institution of Railway Operators and Managing Director New Franchises for Keolis, has risen through the rail industry ranks from ticket office to boardroom.

Recently CEO of the Stockholm Metro in Sweden and Managing Director of the Trains Division at National Express, career railman Franks started his railway career aged 16, at Salisbury station.

After a spell in line traffic management and a three year stint as Area Operations Manager at Gloucester he was promoted to a divisional directorship at Network South East.

After privatisation he became Divisional Operations Manager for Thames Trains, then Managing Director of First North Western and then Southern.

At the National Express Group he was initially Divisional Director North looking after ScotRail, Central Trains, MML and Maintrain.

One of the first to join the IRO when it was launched and a member of its Board for almost six years Franks became the Institution’s new Chairman on 1 January 2011.

Background:

Danny has worked on the railway since leaving school and joined under the Railway Training Scheme as a cleaner at Hertford North working for Network South East. He progressed through the retail grades covering various stations and ticketing roles, finally becoming Duty Station Manager at King’s Cross just as privatisation occurred in 1996.

He then spent 8 years in the Area Operations Control environment, working for 3 different Train Operating Companies, and was fortunate to work his way through all the roles. He experienced the Hatfield and Potters Bar incidents as he was the Duty Control Manager for WAGN Railways at the time of these unfortunate events.

It was from Control that he moved into Operational Management where he led a train crew management team that was responsible for the day to day operation of eight train crew depots and three control offices working for First Capital Connect (FCC).   He then transferred into a Senior Customer Services Role (Head of Customer Services FCC) for a period of 2 years to widen his experience across the business; this role involved managing Stations and Revenue Protection Teams.

During his career he has worked closely with the key rail industry trade unions such as ASLEF, TSSA, and RMT at functional council level, dealing with a variety of subjects such as pay deals, terms and condition changes, right through to reorganisations.

He joined East Coast in April 2010 as Head of On-Board Services, moving on to cover the Customer Service Director role until he was appointed to the Operations Director position in September 2010.

Background:
 A BA (Hons) graduate of Queens University, Belfast, Eugene worked in the Financial/Accounting Sector before he joined McGinley in 1987 as a Chief Accountant. He then became Financial Director in 1990 before taking over as Managing Director in 2004. He takes an active role in the continued development of our existing markets and also in identifying and developing opportunities within new markets and sectors. Eugene has continued to take a proactive lead in the development and implementation of all HSQE policies