First ScotRail
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BBC News has just announced that Richard Bowker is to leave national express. The company is due to give an update tomorrow.
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Bowker leaving National Express
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F Great Eastern
Established Member
Must be bad news to follow......
Dennis
Established Member
It's always struck me as odd that having onboard a man with 'insider knowledge' of the franchising process, NX seem to have agreed to such a bad deal on the east coast.
O L Leigh
Established Member
It wasn't a bad deal. It was just a marginal deal that left them vulnerable to a downturn that few predicted. If that hadn't happened, NX would have netted themselves the railway equivalent of the goose that laid golden eggs.
East Coast has all the hallmarks of being a real money-spinner. However, because of the DfT's hardline attitude towards the letting of the franchise it has now become a poisoned chalice. They couldn't be seen to allow NX have it for less than GNER agreed otherwise there would have been uproar from the losing bidders in the previous re-franchising round. I fully expect the same will happen again if NX lose it.
O L Leigh
East Coast has all the hallmarks of being a real money-spinner. However, because of the DfT's hardline attitude towards the letting of the franchise it has now become a poisoned chalice. They couldn't be seen to allow NX have it for less than GNER agreed otherwise there would have been uproar from the losing bidders in the previous re-franchising round. I fully expect the same will happen again if NX lose it.
O L Leigh
It seems to me that Bowker has previous on this, talking a good talk, getting his organisation into situations it can't cope with then jumping before the brown bits start flying. According to the Beeb, he had been planning this move and the timing is coincidental. Must be true, then.
National Express, the embattled transport group, has been rocked by the surprise resignation of Richard Bowker, its highly regarded chief executive.
Mr Bowkers departure, which is expected to be confirmed in a trading update today, comes at a torrid time for the company. It has reached an impasse in crucial negotiations with the Government over the future of its East Coast rail operations and this week received an unwanted bid approach from First Group, its larger rival.
John Devaney, chairman of National Express, is expected to tell the market this morning that Mr Bowker has resigned for a high-profile job overseas, although the position he has taken is not known. He will say that the company has begun to search for Mr Bowkers replacement.
Mr Bowker, who cut his teeth in the rail industry at London Underground before becoming one of Sir Richard Bransons senior commercial lieutenants, took over as chief executive of National Express in September 2006, replacing Phil White.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article6613427.ece
Mr Bowkers departure, which is expected to be confirmed in a trading update today, comes at a torrid time for the company. It has reached an impasse in crucial negotiations with the Government over the future of its East Coast rail operations and this week received an unwanted bid approach from First Group, its larger rival.
John Devaney, chairman of National Express, is expected to tell the market this morning that Mr Bowker has resigned for a high-profile job overseas, although the position he has taken is not known. He will say that the company has begun to search for Mr Bowkers replacement.
Mr Bowker, who cut his teeth in the rail industry at London Underground before becoming one of Sir Richard Bransons senior commercial lieutenants, took over as chief executive of National Express in September 2006, replacing Phil White.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article6613427.ece
O L Leigh
Established Member
Between all the media press releases and the rumours lies the truth, and I'm old enough and ugly enough not to be swayed from that position. It's one of those things that will be subject to a lot of speculation but we shall probably never know for certain.
O L Leigh
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Board Changes
Richard Bowker CBE, Group Chief Executive, has advised the Board of his intention to leave the Group, in order to take up a position as Chief Executive Designate of Union Railway in the UAE. Mr Bowker will leave the Group on 31 August 2009 and will stand down as a director on 10 July 2009. John Devaney, currently Non-Executive Chairman, becomes Executive Chairman, and Ray O'Toole, currently Chief Executive UK Division, becomes Chief Operating Officer, while the Board identifies a suitable successor for Mr Bowker.
From here.
O L Leigh
O L Leigh
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Board Changes
Richard Bowker CBE, Group Chief Executive, has advised the Board of his intention to leave the Group, in order to take up a position as Chief Executive Designate of Union Railway in the UAE. Mr Bowker will leave the Group on 31 August 2009 and will stand down as a director on 10 July 2009. John Devaney, currently Non-Executive Chairman, becomes Executive Chairman, and Ray O'Toole, currently Chief Executive UK Division, becomes Chief Operating Officer, while the Board identifies a suitable successor for Mr Bowker.
From here.
O L Leigh
Aictos
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National Express boss to resign
Richard Bowker, the chief executive of transport group National Express, is to resign, the BBC has learnt.
His resignation comes at a critical time for the firm, which is renegotiating terms for its rail operations with the government.
Its main rival First Group has also made a takeover approach. National Express is due to release a trading statement later. Passenger numbers on its East Coast rail service have flagged during the recession. National Express is contracted to pay the government £1.4bn to run the East Coast Mainline, which runs between Edinburgh and London, until 2015.
But sales at the franchise grew by just 0.3% in the first three months of 2009, compared with 9% over the whole of last year.
Ministers say if National Express cannot make the franchise work it will have to give up all three of its rail companies - they have told the company there will be no bail-outs. Cuts have been made in dividend payouts to shareholders and other spending while 750 jobs have been lost. Last month, it started charging passengers for reserving a seat on its East Coast and East Anglia franchises. The firm is currently trying to reduce a debt pile of about £1.2bn.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8127775.stm
Richard Bowker, the chief executive of transport group National Express, is to resign, the BBC has learnt.
His resignation comes at a critical time for the firm, which is renegotiating terms for its rail operations with the government.
Its main rival First Group has also made a takeover approach. National Express is due to release a trading statement later. Passenger numbers on its East Coast rail service have flagged during the recession. National Express is contracted to pay the government £1.4bn to run the East Coast Mainline, which runs between Edinburgh and London, until 2015.
But sales at the franchise grew by just 0.3% in the first three months of 2009, compared with 9% over the whole of last year.
Ministers say if National Express cannot make the franchise work it will have to give up all three of its rail companies - they have told the company there will be no bail-outs. Cuts have been made in dividend payouts to shareholders and other spending while 750 jobs have been lost. Last month, it started charging passengers for reserving a seat on its East Coast and East Anglia franchises. The firm is currently trying to reduce a debt pile of about £1.2bn.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8127775.stm
fgwrich
Established Member
Crikey...now, for the first time ever, i feel sorry for the people of UAE to have him there...personally ive never liked him and by the way hes handeld national express as of late, i still personally feel that its a case of the companies in dire financial problems and with nat ex looking ever more likely to be loosing all of there rail franchises...he's just jumping out while he can...
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