Background:
John Dennis is a career railwayman having joined the industry as a graduate management trainee. He worked initially at ground level in the West Midlands, managing the carriage servicing depot at Oxley, Wolverhampton at the time of the inception of the Euston/Wolverhampton InterCity services, before moving on to Tyseley in a similar role. He was then appointed as Area Freight Manager at Stoke-on-Trent.

Subsequent roles included Customer Relations Manager at British Rail HQ working for Chairmen Sir Peter Parker and Sir Bob Reid, following which he worked for Regional Railways and Railfreight Distribution in marketing and business development.
Since privatisation John worked for 6 years for The Railway Forum as its Communications Director before moving to ATOC in 2003.

He is a graduate of the University of London and a Member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Background:
Craig King has in excess of 20 years experience in the Signal and Telecommunications Engineering field, from a Trainee Technician to becoming the Head of S&T Training Division and then to Technical Director of Catalis.

His career path has allowed him to engage a full spectrum of areas within a demanding profession and has enabled him to understand the diverse training and business needs of our clients.

Craig values candidates gaining an increased understanding of a subject and seeing their performance levels increase by intense training on complex equipment. His principles and core values encourage excellent performance within individuals and teams to ensure enhanced business performance when delegates return to their employing organisations.

Background:
Network Rail controls the national rail network infrastructure, with responsibility for maintenance, operations, renewals and enhancements.

Victoria was involved in establishing the company in 2002, including name, image, branding and subsequent promotion of the company.  Reporting directly to the Chief Executive, she is a member of the Executive Committee and is responsible for all aspects of the Government & Corporate Affairs programme, including corporate social responsibility, external stakeholders, politicians, media, internal communications, external liaison, community relations, marketing services, and branding. 

Background:
Andy Milne has a comprehensive background in railway communications. At Express PR he has worked with Heathrow Express, Silverlink Trains, Catalis Rail Training and many other railway companies.

Since 1997 he has edited RailStaff Select, driving an agenda of pro-rail, up beat, stories designed to support and encourage all who work in railways.

Background:

Lee left the Army after 10 year services, to work on the oil rigs and then Railways. Since working on the Rail, Lee has work on various projects over the country.  

Lee started as a labourer on track in gangs and worked through his tickets to gain COSS ES CC. Lee was quick to gain supervisor status and then supervise gangs on FTN and Signalling projects, then onto Site manager. 

Lee then went on to start up UKRS Projects Ltd with Sion Bowen his brother. Within a few years UKRS Projects Ltd has grown to become a successful reliable company. Lee successfully runs all Projects out on the ground and has to travel all round the country to do this.

Background:
Phil Bearpark is the Business Development Director for Virgin Trains with responsibility for Train Planning, Operational Performance and Project Management of the contract with the DfT for the provision of additional Pendolino vehicles.

Phil has been in the railway industry for 18 years, joining British Rail as a Draughtsman in the Railway Technical Centre at Derby. He held various engineering posts within British Rail prior to joining Virgin Trains in 1997 as Fleet Project Engineer. Having held various posts within Virgin Trains he was appointed as Fleet and Engineering Director of Virgin CrossCountry in 2003 with responsibility for all fleet issues. After this he was appointed as Production Director for Virgin CrossCountry with responsibility for Fleet, Drivers, Operations and performance.

As Business Development Director he successfully prepared Virgin Trains for the introduction of the Virgin High Frequency Timetable in Dec 2008. Responsibilities include Train Crew Strategy, construction of over 4,000 new car park spaces, significant changes to maintenance depots, close liaison with Network Rail to ensure that the West Coast Route Modification progressed in accordance to plan and various other projects. Phil’s current challenge is to work closely with Network Rail to address some performance issues that exist on the West Coast infrastructure.

Phil is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and is a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

Away from the rail industry Phil is a keen motorcyclist and enjoys restoring old motorbikes as well as riding modern machines. He also enjoys running and is an amateur organist.

Background:
Bryan Webster is HR Director of VolkerRail Group Ltd. He joined the company eleven years ago and previously worked in the NHS. He is a keen supporter of training and development initiatives and played a key role in VolkerRail receiving a National Training Award in 2002. He has an M.Sc and is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development.