Sir John Peace, Strategic Board Chairman

Sir John Peace chairs Midlands Connect and the Midlands Engine. He has a long and distinguished business career at the highest levels covering the technology, financial services and retail sectors. He is a Founder, former Chairman and Chief Executive of Experian plc, former Chief Executive of GUS Plc, former Chairman of Standard Chartered plc and until July 2018 was Chairman of Burberry plc. He was knighted in 2011 for services to the business and voluntary sector, and has been Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire since 2012.

Nick Abell, Steering Group Chairman

The Steering Group provides expertise and recommendations to the Midlands Connect Strategic Board. The membership includes representatives from local transport authorities, local enterprise partnerships, chambers of commerce, Birmingham and East Midlands airports, HS2 Ltd, Network Rail, Highways England and the Department for Transport.

Our Governance Structure

Midlands Connect has a robust governance structure which provides leadership, accountability, expertise and oversight of the Midlands Connect programme.

Our structure has several layers:

Partnership Advisory Board - meets once a year

Strategic Board - meets three times a year

Steering Group - meets six times a year

Technical Advisory Group - meets three times a year

Technical Programme Sub-Groups - meets in line with the needs of the technical programme.

Steering Group Members

Our Steering Group includes representatives from local transport authorities, local enterprise partnerships, chambers of commerce, airports and national delivery bodies and the Department for Transport. Membership lists are live lists and will be reviewed regularly with partners

Chris Loughran, Chair & Deputy Chair for Delivery for the Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP

Maria Machancoses, Director, Midlands Connect

Colin Knight, Assistant Director, Planning, Transportation and Highways, Coventry City Council

Mike Ryder, Strategic Director for Communities, Warwickshire County Council

Mike Ashworth, Strategic Director of Economy, Transport and Environment, Derbyshire County Council

Andrew Smith, Director of Planning, Transportation and Economic Development, Leicestershire County Council

Sajeeda Rose, Chief Executive, D2N2 LEP

Chris Hobson, Director of Policy and External Affairs, East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire)

Paul Faulkner, Chief Executive, Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce

Simon Richards, Chief Finance and Engineering Officer, Birmingham Airport

Jon Bottomley, Planning Manager, East Midlands Airport

Andrea Haynes, Principal Strategic Manager, Network Rail

David Stones, Networking Planning Director, Highways England

Tom Pooler, Project Sponsor, HS2 Ltd

Malcolm Holmes, Executive Director, West Midlands Rail Executive & Director of Rail, Transport for West Midlands

Andy Rhind, Deputy Director, London, South and Housing, Regions, Cities and Devolution Directorate, Department for Transport

Ben Wills, Head of Midlands & South West Engagement and STBs, Regions, Department for Transport

Strategic Board Members

Our Strategic Board includes local authority leaders, local enterprise partnership chairs and representatives from national delivery bodies, our Steering Group and the Department for Transport. Membership lists are live lists and will be reviewed regularly with partners

Sir John Peace, Chairman, Midlands Connect

Cllr Ian Ward, Leader, Birmingham City Council

Cllr Philip Atkins, Leader, Staffordshire County Council

Cllr Simon Geraghty, Leader, Worcestershire County Council

Sir Peter Soulsby, Leicester City Mayor

Cllr Nicholas Rushton, Leader, Leicestershire County Council

Cllr Kay Cutts, Leader, Nottinghamshire County Council

Alun Rogers, Chairman, Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Enterprise Partnership

Karen Smart, Managing Director, East Midlands Airport

Elizabeth Fagan, Chair, D2N2 LEP

Lorna Pimlott, Director of Sponsorship & Policy, HS2 Ltd

Graham Botham, Strategy and Planning Director North, Network Rail

Jim O'Sullivan, Chief Executive, Highways England

Patricia Hayes, Director General for Roads, Devolution and Motoring, Department for Transport