Meet the Team

We welcome you to meet our dedicated team.

Managing Director - Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde

Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde was previously Managing Director at Merseyrail. Prior to joining Merseyrail, Jan spent three years as Abellio UK’s Deputy MD. He has also held a number of director roles outside of Abellio including Operations Director at South West Trains, Commercial Director at Southern and Operations & Retail Director at Thameslink. He first joined the sector in 1989 as a British Rail general management trainee.

Commercial Director - Andy Camp

Andy Camp spent several years as Commercial Director at Greater Anglia. He joined Greater Anglia in 2012 following a successful career in commercial outside the rail industry. Andy is a strong asset to the business in maximising revenue across the network, while providing the best possible travelling experience for passengers.

Engineering Director - Neil Bamford

Neil Bamford was previously London Midland’s Asset Maintenance Director. Neil started his career with British Rail and was Head of Fleet at CrossCountry before joining London Midland. He will be instrumental in bringing the new trains onto the network on time and within budget as part of the £680m investment West Midlands Trains is making in rolling stock.

Finance Director - David Lindsay

David Lindsay was the finance lead on the bid team for West Midlands Trains. David has been with Abellio for six years, originally joining as a finance manager and bid workstream leader.

Head of Safety and Environment - Lesley Heath

Lesley Heath is an experienced safety professional, joining London Midland in 2015 and previously undertaking a number of safety roles in other train companies including East Coast, GWR, Merseyrail and ScotRail.

HR Director - Adrian Thompson

Adrian has undertaken a number of HR roles within Abellio, including interim cover for the HR Director vacancy at ScotRail. Prior to this he was the HR Director at Northern Rail when the franchise was with Abellio-Serco.

Operations Director - Mark Steward

Mark Steward previously spent a short time as London Midland’s Passenger Services Director. Mark has a wealth of operational experience. He worked in the former Silverlink franchise and for other train companies – including South West Trains, where he was Operations Director up until August 2017.

Transition and Projects Director - Jane Fisher

Jane Fisher’s role allows her to build on the strong foundations created during mobilisation. She will ensure the franchise stays on track to achieve everything committed to in the contract. Jane worked on the West Midlands bid for two years, being Deputy Director when the bid was being put together, and Mobilisation Director thereafter.

West Coast Customer Service Director - Andrew Conroy

Andrew Conroy covers the West Coast Main Line from Euston all the way to Crewe and Liverpool, as well as several branch lines, all under the London Northwestern Railway brand. Andrew was previously Customer Service Director for East Midlands Trains.

West Midlands Customer Service Director - Richard Brooks

Richard Brooks covers the area in and around Birmingham, and works closely with West Midlands Rail and the West Midlands Combined Authority. Richard was previously London Midland’s Commercial Director.