Simon kirby network rail biography for kids

Presented by Damian Waters

Honourable Chancellor, I have pleasure in presenting Simon Kirby for the award of an Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University.

Simon Kirby is CEO of HS2 Ltd, the publicly-funded company charged with delivering the new high-speed rail line between London, Birmingham and the North – including its design, engineering, construction and operation. 

HS2 is the biggest strategic intervention in the life of our nation for decades. It is currently the largest infrastructure project in Europe – and possibly the world – aiming to increase rail capacity in the South, and better connect the cities in the North.

HS2 will cost UK taxpayers upwards of £50 billion, and will help to grow Britain’s economy – and rebalance the economies of the North and the South. It will also act as a catalyst for regional growth and regeneration. 

During construction, which begins next year, HS2 will create around 25,000 jobs, support a further 100,000 jobs, and create 2,000 apprenticeships. It will also affect a step-change on the way infrastructure projects are delivered in the UK with a focus on high performance, innovation and value for money, sourcing the best in world-wide design and construction techniques.

The good news is that Simon is more than up to the Herculean task of delivering the HS2 project on time and on budget, having already delivered an array of large enhancement and renewal infrastructure projects. He spent 10 years at Network Rail, where he was a Board member and Managing Director of Infrastructure Projects. 

These projects include the £550 million refurbishment and renovation of Kings Cross, with its Western Concourse, the largest single-span structure in Europe, which opened in March 2012 in time to welcome the world for the London Olympics. He also managed the £895 million scheme at Reading to unblock one of the country’s worst bottlenecks and construct a new station plus he oversaw the comple

PwC UK has announced the appointment of Simon Kirby to continue the growth of its Capital Projects and Infrastructure business. 

Simon joins from the infrastructure advisory consultancy The Nicols Group, where he was the Managing Partner. Prior to this role, Simon previously held roles as COO at Rolls-Royce, CEO of HS2 as well as senior positions at Network Rail and BAE Systems. Having gained over 30 years of experience, Simon has a track record of delivering complex and high-profile infrastructure programmes.

Simon joins the PwC team at a critical time for the global infrastructure market - valued in excess of $3trillion - where the successful delivery of infrastructure projects is being impacted by unprecedented global challenges, and the need to invest in sustainable infrastructure is critical to meeting climate goals.

Neil Broadhead, PwC UK’s Capital Projects & Infrastructure Leader said: 

“I am delighted that Simon will be joining PwC. Together with our clients, PwC is tackling some of the most pressing infrastructure challenges, from transforming mobility infrastructure, enabling the energy transition, and sustainable infrastructure development. Simon’s experience and expertise will help our clients respond and adapt to these challenges, and his appointment reflects our continued growth and commitment to delivering sustained outcomes and human-led, tech-powered approaches to infrastructure delivery for our clients.”

Simon Kirby, Special Advisor added: 

“I am both delighted and very proud to be joining PwC at such a pivotal moment in the development of its Capital Projects and Infrastructure business. I’m very much looking forward to joining in July and meeting clients both in the UK and in other regions. I am passionate about infrastructure programme delivery and hope to bring some of my experience to help clients overcome the many challenges they face.

This podcast focuses on what can be done to help major infrastructure project teams actually deliver the outcomes that are promised – and specifically whether engaging minds early will drive project success .

As any casual observer of infrastructure will be aware, the track record of major project delivery is not good. In fact a new book by Oxford University professor Bent Flyvbjerg highlights that globally from his list of 16,000 projects in 136 countries over the last 30 years, just 8.5% met cost and schedule targets while just 0.5% satisfied all benefit goals.

OK, I haven’t audited his numbers, but they are, on the face of it, a pretty shocking set of findings – findings that seem to bear out and ring true if you consider the UK’s recent project outcomes from projects such as Crossrail, Jubilee Line Extension, West Coast Mainline upgrade, Hinkley Point – the list goes on. And there are of course many more examples of smaller infrastructure projects failing to deliver. 

So what is going wrong? Prof Flyvbjerg highlights many, many reasons from long durations causing scope and budget creep to failure to understand technology and a propensity towards ‘optimism bias’ urging professionals down the wrong paths.

But primarily his conclusion – and one shared by many others in the industry given the number of industry papers and report on the subject – is poor project initiation or failure in the commissioning stage as the wrong people are left to make the wrong decisions at the wrong moment.
So is that true? And if so how do we change it?
Well to find out, it is my pleasure to welcome Simon Kirby, managing partner at well-known and respected trouble shooting, project delivery consultancy The Nichols Group to the Infrastructure Podcast. Simon has a several decades of experience wrestling with the challenge of de