The Nominations Committee of Transport for Edinburgh has recommended the appointment of Charles Monheim as Chair of Edinburgh Trams. Mr Monheim, who comes with extensive global experience of transport systems, is also set to sit on the Transport for Edinburgh Board and is expected to be formally appointed at a meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council on Thursday 28th May.
Mr Monheim will be joined by Charlene Wallace and Andy Neal as additional non-executive members. These additions mean that non-executive directors will sit on the board of Edinburgh Trams for the first time, allowing the company to benefit from external experience.
The Nominations Committee also recommended Jim McFarlane as Chair of Lothian Buses. Mr McFarlane, who will also join the Transport for Edinburgh Board, joined the company in April on an interim basis as General Manager.
Mr McFarlane will be joined by Susan Deacon, Tony Rose, Mark Yexley and Charlene Wallace as non-executive directors on the board of Lothian Buses. It is also proposed to extend the appointment Donald MacLeod, one of the existing non-executive directors of Lothian Buses, for a further two years.
Council Leader Andrew Burns, said:
These new appointments will really help us to look to the future of public transport in Edinburgh and to achieve our vision of a first-class, fully integrated service, combining Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams.
I believe our new members will bring the perfect mix of transport, business and management expertise to the companies, along with a wealth experience, which will be pivotal as we continue to improve the city for public transport-users, pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike.
That said, we have already achieved so much in Transport for Edinburgh’s first year, with excellent customer satisfaction, increasing patronage and a host of new developments on their way. Therefore I would also like to thank outgoing members for their contributions during this time, particularly Tony Depledge, who stepped in as interim chair to guide the company during a very challenging time.
Transport for Edinburgh non-executive directors – biographies
Charles Monheim – Recommended Edinburgh Trams Chair/Transport for Edinburgh board member
After gaining a MBA at Stanford Business School, Charles took a role working as a Policy Analyst at the Office of the Mayor in New York City. From here he secured a number of roles at New York’s MTA (Mass Transit Authority) during a time of major change. In 2001 Charles moved to London and was responsible for the implementation of the Oyster Card. In 2007 he received the Transport Times award for outstanding contribution to transport in London. In September 2009 Charles returned to MTA in New York as their Chief Operating Officer. Charles relocated to Edinburgh in 2014. He has recently been consulting with global transport providers like MTR (Hong Kong), Alta Bike Share (New York) and Korea Smart Card Company (Malaysia).
Charlene Wallace - Recommended member of Edinburgh Trams and Lothian
Charlene has significant executive director experience in both the rail and aviation sectors. Originally a member of Cabin Crew, Charlene was then promoted into a senior management role at Virgin Trains, before moving to Northern Rail and then East Coast Mainline. She then secured a role as the Customer Service Director role at Monarch Airlines based at Luton Airport and more recently joined Business Stream as Customer Operations Director in Edinburgh. Charlene is qualified and competent in HR, marketing, project management and has a Master’s in Business Management.
Andy Neal – Recommended Edinburgh Trams board member
Andrew is a Marketing professional with many years in senior roles within the drinks industry before moving into media sales growing the Scottish division of Clear Channel. He then moved back into the drinks industry as Marketing Director of Scottish and Newcastle before taking a role as Head of Community Fundraising at Macmillan Cancer Support. Andy has recently left his role as Chief Executive of Essential Edinburgh, which he held from 2011. Working with retail and business partners Andy’s role as Chief Executive has been to contribute to a city centre that is desirable to those using it as residents or visitors and contributes positively to the economy of the community.
Jim McFarlane - Recommended Chair of Lothian Buses/Transport for Edinburgh board member
Jim is currently Interim General Manager at Lothian Buses and previous to this was MD of Operations at Scottish Enterprise. Jim became one of Scotland’s foremost economic development leaders over 35 years with Scottish Enterprise and its predecessor the SDA. He’s has significant involvement in the development and implementation of numerous landmark projects including the Edinburgh BioQuarter and The Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine. Previous senior positions included periods as Chief Executive at Scottish Enterprise Borders and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian. During his time at SE Edinburgh and Lothian Jim led the project teams that established the Edinburgh International Conference Centre and Exchange Financial District, Our Dynamic Earth and the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.
Mark Yexley - Recommended Lothian Buses board member
Mark has worked in the bus industry for 36 years developing this career from a graduate trainee at London Buses, Mark worked his way up to Executive Director level at Arriva UK an organisation with 6,000 buses, 19,000 employees and 70 bus depots through the UK. A graduate of Bristol University and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Mark was the President of the Chartered Institute of Passenger Transport in 2012. Mark brings with him a wealth of bus sector experience from working on projects that develop environmental initiatives like smart ticketing, fuel saving initiatives and the transport offering for London 2012.
Tony Rose - Recommended Lothian Buses board member
After studying and gaining an MSc in Transportation at Imperial College London, Tony started his career as a Transport Analyst and worked on major infrastructure projects such as Crossrail and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. In 2004 he relocated to Edinburgh while working for PricewaterhouseCoopers and focused on providing financial advice to public and private sector clients on complex transport infrastructure projects such as Thameslink, Borders Railway, Edinburgh Tram and heavy rail franchise bids. Tony is now the Infrastructure Director at Scottish Futures Trust, where he is responsible for supporting both public and private sector stakeholders in delivering value for money projects.
Susan Deacon - Recommended Lothian Buses Board member
Over the past 30 years, Susan has worked extensively in leadership development and strategic change. A graduate in Social Policy and Politics and later an MBA, she began her career in local government before moving into management consultancy and then to Edinburgh Business School at Heriot Watt University. In 1999 she was elected MSP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh and served as Scotland’s first Cabinet Minister for Health following devolution. Since standing down from elected office in 2007, she has held a range of non-executive Board and advisory positions in the private, public and third sectors as well as several academic appointments. She is currently an Assistant Principal and Professorial Fellow of the University of Edinburgh.