Sir John Armitt CBE

Chair

This is a biography for Sir John Armitt CBE

Sir John Armitt is the Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission. In September 2013, Sir John published an independent review on long term infrastructure planning in the UK. The recommendations in the Armitt Review received widespread support and resulted in the creation of the National Infrastructure Commission in 2015.

After leaving John Laing plc in 1993, where Sir John had been Chairman of Laing’s International and Civil Engineering divisions, he became Chief Executive of Union Railways. In 1997 he became Chief Executive of Costain, a position he held until 2001, when he became Chief Executive of Railtrack (later Network Rail) until 2007. From 2007 he was Chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority responsible for delivering the venues for London 2012; thereafter Sir John served as Chairman of National Express Group from 2012 through to 2022, and as Chairman of City and Guilds between 2010 and 2020.

Julia Prescot CBE

Deputy Chair

This is a biography for Julia Prescot CBE

Julia is Co-Founder of Meridiam Infrastructure. She is a member of the UK Investment Council and is Co-Chair of the Global Infrastructure Facility, a G20, World Bank and multilateral bank promoted organisation. Julia is Chair of the Fulcrum Infrastructure Group, Chair of Neuconnect Limited, Deputy Chair at the Port of Tyne and a non executive director of Allego NV, an electric car charging company. Previously she has held a number of other national and international non executive director positions. She is an Honorary Professor at the Bartlett School, University College London. She was also the co-founder of the Women Leaders in Infrastructure Group.

Professor Sir Tim Besley CBE

Commissioner

This is a biography for Professor Sir Tim Besley CBE

Timothy Besley is School Professor of Economics and Political Science and W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). From September 2006 to August 2009, he served as an external member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee and since 2015 has been a member of the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission. He is also the Gluskin-Granovsky Fellow in the Institutions, Organizations and Growth Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).

He earned his D.Phil from Oxford where he was a prize fellow of All Souls College. He then taught at Princeton before being appointed Professor in the economics department at the LSE in 1995. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, the British Academy, and the European Economic Association. He is also a foreign honorary member of the American Economic Association and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He served as the President of the European Economic Association in 2010, as President of the International Economic Association from 2014-17, and as President of the Econometric Society in 2018.

Neale Coleman CBE

Commissioner

This is a biography for Neale Coleman CBE

Neale Coleman worked at the Greater London Authority from 2000 – 2015, leading the Mayor’s work on London’s Olympic bid, the delivery of the Games and their regeneration legacy, and was a Board Member of the Olympic Delivery Authority throughout its life. Neale co-chaired the Olympic Delivery Group, which had responsibility for leading preparations for the Games prior to the creation of the ODA, ensuring the right infrastructure was in place to support the largest sporting event in the world.

In addition to the Olympics, Neale led the first Mayor’s approach to housing, regeneration, health and devolution and steered multi agency groups on some of London’s biggest regeneration areas. Neale has also served as Policy Director for the Labour Party.

Dr Michele Dix CBE

Commissioner

This is a biography for Dr Michele Dix CBE

Michele is a civil engineer with over 45 years’ experience, specialising in transport, in the public and private sector. She started her career with the Greater London Council before joining Halcrow Fox and becoming the Board Director for Urban Transport. She joined Transport for London in 2000 as the Director of Congestion Charging. In 2008 she became the Managing Director for Planning with responsibility for strategic planning and analysis, borough partnerships and the development of major projects across London. Michele also represented the UK on the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). In 2015 she became the Managing Director for Crossrail 2. Michele retired in 2021 and has since held a number of non-executive roles as a Director for the Major Projects Association, Crossrail International and the Restoration and Renewal Programme, an advisor on University College London’s Major Infrastructure Delivery MBA Board and as an ICE policy fellow.

Andy Green CBE

Commissioner

This is a biography for Andy Green CBE

Andy Green holds a number of Chairman, Non-Executive Director and advisory roles, linked by his passion for how technology transforms business and our daily lives.

He chairs IG Group plc, a global leader in online trading and the Digital Catapult, an initiative to help grow the UK Digital Economy. Andy also chairs the board of software company Gentrack Group Ltd. He is a Senior Independent Director at Avanti plc, a global broadband satellite operator, and a non-executive director of Link Administration Holdings. He also advises npGroup, Tagos, DockOn, the Eight Great Technologies Fund and Omnio. He became a National Infrastructure Commissioner in April 2017.

He is President of UK Space, co-chair of the UK Space Leadership Council a member of the CBI President’s Committee, a trustee and Vice Chair of the Disasters Emergency Committee, a trustee of WWF UK, and is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.

Professor Jim Hall FREng

Commissioner

This is a biography for Professor Jim Hall FREng

Jim Hall is Professor of Climate and Environmental Risks in the University of Oxford and is Director of Research in the School of Geography and the Environment. Before joining the University of Oxford in 2011 to become Director of the University’s Environmental Change Institute, he held academic positions in Newcastle University and the University of Bristol. He is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology and was an Expert Advisor to the National Infrastructure Commission before his appointment. He is also Chair of the Science Advisory Committee of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and was a member of the UK independent Committee on Climate Change Adaptation from 2009 to 2019.

Professor Sadie Morgan OBE

Commissioner

This is a biography for Professor Sadie Morgan OBE

Sadie Morgan is a founding director of leading architectural practice dRMM, alongside Alex de Rijke and Philip Marsh. The studio is recognised for creating innovative, high quality and socially useful architecture. dRMM’s recent high-profile projects include Hastings Pier, Trafalgar Place at Elephant & Castle, Maggie’s Oldham and Faraday House at the Battersea Power Station.

As well as being a Commissioner, Sadie chairs the Independent Design Panel for High Speed Two. Sadie was appointed a Mayor’s design advocate for the Greater London Authority and non-executive director of the Major Project Association in 2017. In 2019 she was appointed to the board of Homes England.

Kate Willard OBE

Commissioner

This is a biography for Kate Willard OBE

Kate Willard is Chair of the Thames Estuary Growth Board and the Government appointed Thames Estuary Envoy. She has lived and worked in Hungary, France and Belgium, established the first UK-Hungarian cultural partnership trust, and was CEO of the UK’s first rural regeneration company. Kate is on Arts Council England’s National Council, and chairs both Arts Council Area Council North and the Board of Teesside International Airport. She is a Churchill Fellow and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

Nick Winser CBE

Commissioner

This is a biography for Nick Winser CBE

Nick Winser has enjoyed a 30-year career in the energy sector which included being CEO of National Grid across UK and Europe, President of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, and CIGRE UK Chair. Inaugural Chair of Energy Systems Catapult from 2015-2024, Nick was appointed Chair of the Advisory Board for the Energy Revolution ISCF programme in 2018. This was followed by his appointment in 2022 as the Government’s Electricity Networks Commissioner. In 2022 he also joined the Board of Greencoat UK Wind, where he acts as the Senior Independent Director.

Nick is both a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, serving as its President in 2017/18, and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is also a former Chair of the MS Society and a former member of the Board of the Kier Group.