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RAILSTAFF NOVEMBER 2016
Caplan to head RIA The Railway Industry Association (RIA) - which represents UK-based suppliers to the world’s railways has appointed a new chief executive, Darren Caplan. Caplan comes to RIA from the Airport Operators Association where he has been chief executive for the last six years. He will commence his new role early in the new year and takes over from interim chief executive, David Tonkin, who has led RIA since the much respected former RIA director general Jeremy Candfield announced his retirement in the summer. Says RIA chairman Gordon Wakeford, ‘We are delighted to welcome Darren Caplan to RIA as our new chief executive. Darren comes with an excellent track record of successfully running a transport trade association, campaigning for sectoral growth, enhancing its performance and delivering improved member satisfaction scores every year.
Ricardo move for Andrew Witkowski Andrew Witkowski has moved to Ricardo Rail as key account manager for major rail industry clients such as Network Rail and TfL.
The RIA team and members look forward to having Darren on board as we embark on the next stage of the association’s development.’ The Airport Operators Association (AOA), is the trade association for British airports and suppliers. At the AOA, Caplan campaigned for airport sector growth and fairer levels of aviation tax. In July this year he won the Trade Association Forum Award for Association Leadership. Before joining the AOA, Darren worked for 14 years in communications, politics and public affairs.
Witkowski was previously with Halcrow Group as its rail director, a position he held for five years. Before that he was for six years the director of traction and rolling stock, involved in building Halcrow’s global T&RS business. ‘Since joining Ricardo Rail, I have been getting to know the people that give our business its unique qualities. From the managing director to the business managers, engineers and all the support staff, there is an overwhelming commitment to build a successful rail business and to foster long-term relationships with clients and the supply chain alike. ‘In my role as key account manager, I am committed to supporting the team in their efforts to introduce even higher levels of safety, reliability and efficiency into the UK railways,’ says Andrew, who has a degree from the University of Derby and is a fluent Polish speaker. Ricardo Rail was formed following the transfer of the Lloyd’s Register rail assurance and consultancy business to Ricardo plc in July 2015. The
parent company itself celebrates 100 years in engineering this year and was originally founded by Sir Harry Ricardo. Among his early attempts at transport engineering was the building of an internal combustion engine to power his bicycle at Rugby School, apparently much to the consternation of his masters. Later, during the First World War, Ricardo designed a new engine for the military tank which created less exhaust smoke. Tanks arguably brought to an end the stalemate of trench warfare that had seen the death of so many. As well as supplying the armoured vehicle Ocelot - Foxhound to the MoD, Ricardo still supplies scout cars to the US army. Currently Ricardo Rail sports a 100-strong rail team based in its technical centre in Derby and across a network of offices in Bristol, London, Preston, Shoreham and Leamington Spa. The name comes from a family of Sephardic Jewish Portuguese immigrants who came to Britain from the Dutch Republic.
New rail MD for Telent Steve Dalton is to take over from Steve Pears as the managing director of Telent’s Rail Division. Steve Pears is retiring, having worked for Telent and its predecessor companies, GEC and Marconi, for almost 40 years. Steve Dalton, who was managing director of the company’s Network Services Division, joined GEC in 1985 as an engineering apprentice. Says Mark Plato, chief executive of Telent, ‘We would like to thank RAILSTAFF.UK | @RAILSTAFFUK | FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF
Steve Pears for his valued contribution to Telent over the years. ‘We are pleased to announce Steve Dalton as Telent Rail’s new managing director, and we are confident in his experience and proven ability to deliver results.’ Steve Dalton, who presented the award for Graduate of the Year at this year’s RailStaff Awards, said he was looking forward to joining the rail division during a time of ‘digital transformation’ for the company.