What Sir John Kingman’s appointment means for Great British Railways

First of all, with John’s appointment, GBR will have someone who has a superb background in government, and in spanning business, public policy and economics. John spent most of his career in the Treasury, responsible for some combination of policies towards growth, financial services and public spending. So he knows government backwards, in all its complexity. He should be a huge help to GBR in managing its relationship with Whitehall, while having all the confidence and authority needed to create and maintain its autonomy.

Second, John really understands corporate governance. He has chaired large and complex businesses like Legal and General. He should be well placed to build a board that includes a mix of skills and backgrounds and helps to instill the right sort of culture and behaviours across the new organisation. John’s intellect will also be a great help in making sure the board focuses on the key issues and doesn’t get sidetracked.

Finally, and to state the obvious, John is not a railway person, or even the former chief executive of a transport or similar business. His background is in government and corporate governance. But of course many of the biggest challenges facing GBR are in exactly the operational space – improving reliability, increasing efficiency, cutting costs, improving industrial relations, protecting safety. And doing all that while the burden of public and political expectations goes on rising.

So the right complement to John as chair will be an outstanding chief executive – who can drive simplification and better operating performance, while coping with the inevitable ups and downs of the railway business.

Image credit: Department for Transport