vertice: Speaker Profiles

Mike Brown

Managing Director, London Underground & London Rail

Mike Brown first joined London Underground in 1989 and worked in various operational manager roles before becoming the company's Chief Operating Officer in 2003.   In 2008, he joined BAA with responsibility for running Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport.    

He rejoined London Underground as Managing Director in 2010, taking responsibility for a multi million pound programme of modernisation and renewal.  In November that year he also became Managing Director for Rail which along with DLR, Overground and Trams, now includes the Cable Car.   He led the delivery of transport for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.

Keir Fitch

Deputy head of cabinet of Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of transport

Keir Fitch is the Deputy Head of Cabinet of Siim Kallas, Vice-President and Commissioner for Transport where Mr. Fitch is responsible for land transport, security and state aids, inter alia. He was also the coordinator of the White Paper of the Future of Transport. Mr. Fitch studied mathematics and law at Cambridge, was a lawyer at Herbert Smith and then moved on to the UK civil service in 1993. He joined the European Commission's Legal Service in 1999. Before joining the cabinet of Mr. Kallas in 2004, he was a Member of Cabinet of Vice-President Kinnock, responsible for Administration.

Alain Flausch

Secretary General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP)

Alain Flausch was selected Secretary General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) in September 2011 by the UITP Executive Board.

This appointment acknowledges Mr Flausch’s long-standing commitment to public transport on the international stage. Mr Flausch was previously Chairman of the Finance & Commerce sub-committee of the UITP Metro Committee (2001-2009); he has also been a member of the UITP Executive and Policy Boards (2004-2009), an Executive Member of the UITP International Metro Committee (2001-2009), a Member of the Transport Management Committee (UITP) and Chairman of the Design & Culture Platform.

Trevor Garrod

Chairman, European Passenger Federation

Trevor was born in 1946 and worked in the public sector for a total of 24 years.  He commuted to work by train every day.  He has been active in voluntary bodies for rail users since early 1970s and was General Secretary of Railway Development Society (now Railfuture) 1986-2001.

Trevor is one of the founders of the European Passengers' Federation and has been its Chairman since 2002

Monika Heiming

Executive Director, European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM)

Since October 2011, Monika Heiming has been the Executive Director of EIM (European Infrastructure Managers), representing its 13 independent European infrastructure managers vis-à-vis all relevant European institutions and stakeholders.  Monika is active in Brussels as a lobbyist and manager of international associations and groupings. Her dual strengths – business management skills (MBA) and languages - qualify her well to tackle European issues and the challenges facing companies in their respective markets.

David Martin

Chief Executive, Arriva

David qualified as an accountant in 1977 after graduating in business studies. He held a variety of general management positions before joining the bus industry in 1986. After leading a management buy-out of an East Midlands-based bus company, he was involved in the acquisition of National Express and subsequent management buy-outs leading to the creation of British Bus Group Limited.

David joined the group in 1996 on the acquisition of British Bus, becoming a member of the Board in February 1998 with specific responsibility for the group’s international operations and development.

From March 2005 he was group managing director - operations and deputy chief executive, and since April 2006 chief executive.

The Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP

Secretary of State for Transport, UK

Patrick McLoughlin was appointed Secretary of State for Transport in September 2012. He is the Conservative MP for Derbyshire Dales.

Before becoming an MP in 1986, Patrick sat on Staffordshire County Council from 1981 to 1987 and Cannock Chase District Council between 1980 and 1987.

He has held a number of positions in government, including Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry and Government Whip. In opposition, he served as Chief Whip from 2005 to 2010. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 2005.

He was appointed Chief Whip in the Coalition government in 2010.

Paul Plummer

Group Strategy Director, Network Rail

Paul Plummer joined Network Rail in October 2002 and is Group Strategy Director. He is responsible for planning the development of the network, business planning, the interface with government and economic regulation.  From 1999 to 2001, he was Chief Economist and Director of Economics and Finance at the Office of Rail Regulation.  Paul has previously worked at National Economic Research Associates (NERA), NM Rothschild and Accenture where he advised companies, regulators and governments on business strategy, restructuring, privatisation, corporate finance and regulation in the utilities sector.

Richard Price

Chief Executive, UK Office of Rail Regulation

After gaining his MSc in Economics in 198, Richard spent four years at HM Treasury, before leaving to work as a consultant for NERA Economic Consulting, where he advised businesses and governments on the economic regulation of large infrastructure projects and utilities. In 1997 he returned to the Treasury as a senior policy adviser before moving to the Home Office as Chief Economist and then Strategy Adviser to the Permanent Secretary, working among other things on the funding and performance framework for the police. Richard was also a project director at the Prime Minister’s Performance and Innovation Unit in 2000-01.

Between 2002 and 2006 Richard led the Treasury’s Enterprise and Business team, working on the development of industry and enterprise policy to drive UK economic growth, this included putting government support for businesses on a more commercial basis. Richard was closely involved in the Hampton Review which led to the rationalisation of the regulatory framework for business in the UK.

Most recently he has worked at Defra in the dual posts of Chief Economist and Director of Corporate Performance, where he led a group of 230 staff. At Defra, Richard designed and implemented major changes in Defra’s organisation, delivery and strategy. He therefore has an enviable background - regulation; advising government at the highest levels; private sector; and spearheading transformational change.

Matthias Ruete

Director-General, European Commission, DG MOVE

Matthias Ruete studied law in Marburg, Cologne, Berlin and Giessen, and in 1984 at the University of Giessen, with a thesis on copyright, intellectual property 'and British societies doctorate.

He entered the service of the European Commission in 1986. There he worked in various management positions before he took over the management of the DG in 2006.

Brian Simpson MEP

Chairman, European Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee

Brian was first elected to the European Parliament in June 1989 and is presently the Chairman of the Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee.

He comes from Golborne, near Wigan and has represented his home region the North West of England in the Parliament for 18 years. Brian was the spokesperson on Transport for the Parliament's Socialist Group, before being made Committee Chair in 2009. He is also a Member of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, where he acts as Labour Party Spokesman; and the European Parliament's delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand.

John Smith

CEO, GB Railfreight

John started in the industry as a Technician Apprentice in York in 1977.  He progressed to Managing Rolling Stock Maintenance at various locations followed by some sabbaticals in other areas (Crewe on OLE during Crewe Remodelling in the 1980's, Derby as Project Manager of Secondary Door Locks).  John ended up as Deputy Managing Director Anglia before privatisation. Following GB group's takeover John set up GB Railfreight in 2000 leading the business to a £100m turnover.

Marcel Verslype

Executive Director, European Railway Agency

Marcel VERSLYPE, 60, joined the European Railway Agency in 2005 as Executive Director.

For the past 28 years, he has been actively involved in the railway sector and in the European and Belgian institutions. He started working for the Belgian railway in 1976 and acted from 1987 to 1989 as head of the passenger sales activities and the development of the TGV in Belgium.

Marcel VERSLYPE joined the European Commission in 1989 in the cabinet of the commissioner in charge of transport. In 1992 he was named Head of cabinet for public undertakings in Belgium. In 1995, he was appointed Director-General of SNCB in charge of freight activities.

Vladimir Yakunin

President, Russian Railways

Vladimir Yakunin was born in Melenki in Vladimir region on 30 June 1948 and graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Mechanics in 1972. He began his career as a junior researcher at the State Institute of Applied Chemistry. After completing his military service in the Soviet army, he worked as an engineer and senior engineer at the Directorate of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers for Foreign Economic Relations and as Head of Department at the Ioffe Physical Technical Institute at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He is married and has two sons.

Anders Ygeman

Chairman of the Committee on Transport and Communications, Swedish Parliament

Anders Ygeman has been the Chairman of the Swedish Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Communications since 2010. He has been in Parliament since 1995 and was Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Agriculture between 2006 and 2010.  He is a member of the Social Democratic Party.

Anders was born in 1970 and lives in Stockholm, Sweden.