Rob holds a civil engineering degree from Leeds University & an MBA from Aston Business School, where he also chaired the Advisory Board. He has spent over 30 years in the rail industry in the UK, Australia and Hong Kong, initially involved in the delivery of major infrastructure projects but more recently leading businesses and government bodies in, and beyond, the rail sector.
In recent years having set up the initial London Overground operation, he then became the Managing Director of Chiltern Railways; opening a new route to Oxford and overseeing the record growth of the business on the back of it delivering the UK’s highest punctuality and achieving its highest ever customer satisfaction ratings. In 2016, Rob was appointed as a non-Executive Director on the Network Rail Board and has subsequently been appointed Senior Independent Director.
In 2017, at the request of the Secretary of State, he set up the East West Railway Company, an arm’s length body of government, established to finance, construct and operate a new railway, to help support economic and housing development, between Oxford and Cambridge and chaired this company between 2018 and 2021.
In April 2022 he was asked to chair New Homes Quality Board which is setting new standards for the quality of new homes and levels of customer service.
