London Midland FD moves to Govia Thameslink

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has announced that Ian McLaren will be joining as chief financial officer at the end of the year.

McLaren is currently the finance and contracts director at London Midland, a role he has held since 2014, and will replace Wilma Allan, who is leaving to become CFO of London City Airport.

McLaren, who has held senior level appointments in transport, technology and professional industries across the UK, Europe, APAC and the US, will be leading GTR’s finance team and be responsible for procurement and IT activities.

GTR is the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff and carries about 326 million passenger journeys per year, and employs around 6,500 people. It operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services, with Southern having the fastest passenger growth in the UK.

To meet this growth GTR is modernising the rail service and has introduced more new trains in the past year than all other franchises put together, with 500 new carriages so far.

GTR Chief Executive Charles Horton said: “I very much look forward to working with Ian and I know he’ll add real value to the business.

“His broad experience and intimate knowledge of the rail and technology industries will help keep our transformation of the GTR network on track to deliver a better railway and excellent service for our customers.

“I am very grateful to Wilma Allan, who has led finance teams in Govia for the past 15 years, for her very significant contribution to GTR.

“Her commitment and professionalism have been outstanding. She will be missed by me and many others across the company and I wish her all the best for the future.”

Comments are closed.