John Armitt

Sir John Alexander Armitt CBE FREng FICE (born 2 February 1946) is an English civil engineer, and current chairman of the UK's National Infrastructure Commission.

For the New Zealand wrestler, see John Armitt (wrestler).

Sir John Armitt
CBE, FREng
Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission
Assumed office
19 January 2018
Appointed byPhilip Hammond
Preceded byThe Lord Adonis
Deputy Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission
In office
21 April 2017 – 19 January 2018
Interim: 5 October 2015 – 21 April 2017
Appointed byGeorge Osborne
Philip Hammond
ChairThe Lord Adonis
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byVacant
Personal details
Born
John Alexander Armitt

(1946-02-02) 2 February 1946
Edmonton, London, England
Alma materPortsmouth University
London Business School
OccupationChairman, National Infrastructure Commission

From 2007 Armitt was chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, the body which successfully built the venues, facilities and infrastructure for the 2012 Olympic Games. He was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers for 2015–16,[1] and is president of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers for 2022.[2]

He was chairman of the Council of the City and Guilds of London Institute from 2012 to 2021, He was chairman of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council from 2007 until 2012. He was chairman of National Express from January 2013 until December 2022.[3]

Insignia of Knight Bachelor

Early life

Armitt was born in February 1946 in North London.[4] He is 6 ft 4 in tall.[5] He attended Portsmouth Northern Grammar School. He graduated in civil engineering from the Portsmouth College of Technology in 1966 and took his first job with John Laing.[4]

Career

Armitt spent 27 years with John Laing, on various projects including the Sizewell B nuclear power station[6] rising to become the chairman of Laing's International and Civil Engineering Divisions.[7]

In 1993, he was appointed chief executive of Union Railways, the company responsible for implementing the Channel Tunnel rail link. From 1997 to 2001, he was chief executive of Costain Group,[7] which he converted from an annual loss of £62 million to a profit of £6.5 million.[8] In 2001 he became chief executive of Railtrack, and from 2002 to 2007 its successor, Network Rail,[4]

During his time at Network Rail he was believed by a survey sponsored by The Sunday Times to be the highest-paid public-sector employee in the UK.[9] Armitt's salary and bonus of £878,000 – rising to more than £1m[10] when pension contributions are included, overtaking Adam Crozier, chief executive of Royal Mail.

On 2 November 2012 the Government announced that Armitt would be a member of the Airports Commission.[11] He is a non executive director of the Berkeley Group and was a Transport for London board member from 2012 to 2016 [12]

The Armitt Review, an independent review of long-term UK infrastructure planning, was published in September 2013, and is Labour Party policy.[12] He was appointed to the National Infrastructure Commission in 2015, became deputy chairman in 2017 and was appointed chairman in 2018. In January 2023, his appointment as chairman was renewed for a further two years, through to January 2025.[13]

Also in January 2023, he was appointed as a non-executive director on the board of Tilbury Douglas's parent company, TD Bidco, owned and controlled by shareholders of Interserve.[14]

Recognition

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1996 Birthday Honours for services to the rail industry.[15][4] On 16 July 2007 Network Rail named New Measurement Train power car 43062 after him at London Euston. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering[16] and of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

He was knighted in the 2012 New Years Honours List for services to engineering and construction as chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority.[17] His knighthood was criticised by the family of a victim of the Grayrigg derailment, as Armitt had been serving as chief executive of Network Rail at the time of the 2007 accident. Network Rail were prosecuted for the incident on the same day that Armitt's knighthood was conferred.[18]

References
  1. "ICE Council". Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  2. "Presidents". Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  3. "Corporate news - National Express Group PLC". Archived from the original on 8 April 2014.
  4. Network Rail News Release Archived 20 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine Tuesday 12 December 2006 Network Rail announces the intention of John Armitt to retire as Chief Executive
  5. BBC News Business 3 October 2002 Hard Hat time for rail champion
  6. The Times 9 May 2007
  7. ODA Board Archived 8 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine ODA Website. Retrieved 26 October 2008
  8. "Rail crash report blames points". BBC News. 26 February 2007.
  9. Grimston, Jack; Kirk, Jon (8 October 2006). "Fat cats of the public sector take top pay". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  10. Network Rail Limited: Annual Report and Accounts 2006
  11. "Airports Commission membership". UK Government 2012.
  12. Hansford, Mark (29 October 2015). "Industry Catalyst". New Civil Engineer.
  13. "Armitt reappointed to Infrastructure Commission". The Construction Index. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  14. Weinfass, Ian (20 January 2023). "Government infra advisor joins Tilbury Douglas owner's board". Construction News. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  15. "No. 54427". The London Gazette. 14 June 1996. p. 8.
  16. "The Fellowship". Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  17. "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 1.
  18. "Grayrigg crash victim's son 'disgusted' by knighthood". BBC News. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
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