BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) has announced the appointment of Jeremy Westlake as its next chief executive, succeeding Sir Andrew Haines who is retiring.
Westlake is currently chief financial officer (CFO) at NR and will formally take up his new role on October 20 following a transition period working alongside Haines. His appointment has been approved by the secretary of state for transport, Heidi Alexander.
A chartered accountant, Westlake has been CFO at NR since 2016. He joined the company from Alstom Transport where he took up the post of senior vice-president, finance, in 2013.
Prior to joining Alstom, he held senior finance, operational and supply chain roles over 14 years at Rolls-Royce, based in both Britain and the United States.
In his new role, Westlake will oversee the amalgamation of NR with Great British Railways (GBR), the new body being created to reunite passenger operations with infrastructure management.
Announcing Westlake’s appointment, acting NR chair, Mike Putnam, said: “His strong track record in encouraging cross-industry collaboration, working closely with our supply chain, and driving continuous improvement will be crucial as we continue the transition towards GBR.”
Westlake will be succeeded as NR CFO by Paul Marshall, currently group finance director at the infrastructure manager.
