Meet Our Board of Directors

Working alongside our Chief Executive Carl Williams, the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board of Directors have been carefully selected to bring a broad range of skills and experience to the organisation. Its non-executive board members are dedicated to the continuous improvement of safety standards as light rail becomes an increasingly important solution to the UK’s urban transport challenges. You can find out more about them below.

George Lowder

Chair

As the Chief Executive of Transport for Edinburgh (TfE), George Lowder has been instrumental in the development and delivery of a successful integrated transport network, including the Edinburgh’s acclaimed tramway.

He is also a non-executive director of Transform Scotland, Vice President of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, Chairs the Boards of two Scottish charities, and is a Trustee of a third.

Jane Cole

Board Member

The Managing Director of Blackpool Transport is a former winner of the Business Woman of the Year accolade at the Northern Enterprise Vision Awards, and a previous President for the Confederation of Passenger Transport. She has led Blackpool Transport since 2014, following 17 years as a business manager at Virgin Trains.

Ian Law

Board Member

Currently responsible for business transformation at South Yorkshire Supertram, Ian led the operator’s finance team through the successful transition into local authority control.

Previously, he has worked for Manchester Metrolink, managing the business through significant change.

More recently, he developed the financial model underpinning the successful business case for the Newhaven extension in Edinburgh and worked with West Midlands Metro on a commercial strategy when operations returned to public ownership.

Sarah Higgins

Board Member

Sarah Higgins is an experienced passenger rail operator who is currently Operations Director at Transport for Wales, where she is responsible for introducing the South Wales class 398 tram train.

Prior to working in operations, Sarah spent almost a decade as a civil servant, specialising in rail commercial activities including alliancing and franchising policy as well as a variety of other roles.

Clive Pennington

Board Member

The Technical Director for Light Rail at Amey, Clive Pennington is a Chartered Electrical Engineer and has worked in the light rail sector for almost 20 years.

Colin Kerr

Board Member

A cross-discipline engineer with over 40 years’ experience, Colin Kerr has worked in the light rail sector for nearly two decades and currently leads the Edinburgh Trams safety & projects team.

Danny Vaughan

Board Member

The Head of Metrolink at Transport for Greater Manchester, Danny Vaughan has more than 20 years experience in light rail and expertise in capital programme management, franchising, procurement, operations, asset management, contract and commercial management.

Mark Davis

Board Member

The General Manager of London Trams, Mark Davis, brings wide-ranging experience to the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board having worked in the sector for the past 14 years.

Martin Fleetwood

Board Member

A consultant at Addleshaw Goddard for over 20 years, Martin has advised on a variety of transport-related projects, from transport policy and strategy, through advising service operators and manufacturers of equipment, to financiers and lessors of transport assets.

Martin has served previously on the board of UKTram and is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport and the author of numerous articles on rail issues and tram schemes.