MD of Scotland’s Railway appointed director general for rail services by DfT

The Department for Transport has announced the appointment of Alex Hynes to the role of director general, rail services.

Hynes will join the DfT on a two-year secondment from his current position as managing director of Scotland’s Railway on April 15.

In his current role, Hynes has successfully led the Scotland’s Railway team, which has been accountable for devolving more responsibility for rail in Scotland, while working effectively with partners Transport Scotland and ScotRail to grow collaboration for the benefit of rail users across the country.

He said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to undertake the role of director general rail services within the Department for Transport.

“Our railways play a vital role connecting people right across the country and I look forward to working closely with DfT colleagues to help industry deliver the services that passengers rightly expect, while laying the track for a simpler, more effective rail system.”

Willmott Dixon has appointed James Mackenzie as its new chief financial officer.

The move follows Rick Willmott stepping into the role of executive chairman at the start of 2024, with previous CFO Graham Dundas succeeding him as Willmott Dixon’s chief executive.

Mackenzie, who will also join the company’s main board, was previously CFO at Willmott Dixon’s joint venture partnership with EcoWorld London, a position he held for six years. He will continue that support for the JV.

Prior to this, he held senior positions at Balfour Beatty, Berkeley Group and Kier.

Chief executive Graham Dundas said: “I’m delighted James is joining us, as Rick, the main board and I already know him well from his previous role. He is closely aligned with our culture, values and ethos and brings a lot of existing knowledge of Willmott Dixon.”

Turner & Townsend, the global professional services consultancy, has strengthened its energy and natural resources team with three new directors.

They are supporting the delivery of transformative clean energy and electrical transmission programmes worldwide.

Faye Banks has been appointed as the firm’s director of transmission and distribution, UK. She will lead Turner & Townsend’s work across electricity networks to support the reliable and cost-effective delivery of power.

Andrew Baker joins the business as its Europe lead for energy and natural resources, taking responsibility for the firm’s work across clean, low carbon and conventional energy, transmission and mining throughout the Europe region.

And Mark Savage has been appointed to global sector lead for nuclear and head of programme services. In this role, he is responsible for the quality and innovation of Turner & Townsend’s technical services across the energy and natural resources market.

A respected industry professional who has already made a major contribution to training and skills in Scotland is to take over the running of the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT), the approved training scheme for the country’s electrical apprentices.

Construction industry skills specialist Fiona Harper – currently director of employment and skills at SELECT and the secretary of the Scottish Joint Industry Board (SJIB) – will assume the role of CEO at SECTT on April 1.

She will succeed Anne Galbraith, who is stepping down after more than a decade of overseeing the development of electrical apprentices and adult trainees across Scotland and whose reign has seen record numbers of young electrical learners coming through.