Appointments and Departures from the Boards and Management in the Transport Sector

UK – XPO Logistics has announced the appointment of Dr Nicholas Head to lead the company's environmental and sustainability organisation in the UK and Ireland. He will report to Nigel Rouch, operational excellence director, and Dan Myers, managing director for the region. Dr Head has more than a decade of experience working with organisations of all types to advance environmental goals.

Prior to joining XPO, he served in senior roles with Encore Environment Ltd and SusConnect Ltd, among others, and consulted on corporate strategies for environmental, energy and resource management. In 2019, he co-founded the not-for-profit Transnational Transparent Procurement Foundation to pioneer sustainable procurement technologies. He holds a doctorate in sustainable waste management and a master's degree in waste management from Northampton University.

UK – The Rail Freight Group (RFG) has announced the appointment of Martin Bignell as its new Scottish and Northern Representative. Martin will play a key role in developing the RFG’s strategy for the regions, working with RFG members, key stakeholders and regional bodies across Scotland and the North of England. He has a background in freight and logistics including an MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and worked for a multimodal freight operator and in rail freight policy and development with the Strategic Rail Authority.

As a contractor for the last decade, Martin has primarily been involved in transport consultancy projects and contract bidding and mobilisation including for maritime, overnight passenger rail and active travel services, together with providing specialist freight understanding and freight stakeholder engagement to many transport strategy and research projects.

UK – From January 2022 the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) will have a new chair in Kat Moss with Oliver Auston taking on her previous role of Vice Chair. Moss has been a member of the LEEA Board for almost six years. She paid tribute to Richard Money, who ends a tenure as Chair that has spanned an unprecedented period. Kat, who started with Catena Inspection and Engineering Services, where she is now Business Development & QA Manager, joined the LEEA committee in 2010 before taking on the Vice Chair role in January 2020.

UK – Not so much who has been hired, as who will be, as Artemis Technologies, the lead partner in the Belfast Maritime Consortium, a 13-member syndicate which brings together a range of established and young firms, academia and public bodies to design and build zero-emission high-speed ferries in the city, expects to double its workforce to more than 100 employees in 2022, as its work in Northern Ireland enters a new phase.

Harnessing knowledge that combines technology from the America’s Cup and motorsport, the vessels will be powered by the unique Artemis eFoilerTM electric propulsion system and, with the first test vessel expected to take to the water in a matter of months, the ongoing recruitment drive has started with the company just taking on its 50th employee. For further information on current vacancies click HERE.

SWITZERLAND – GERMANY – Quantron AG which provides clean battery and hydrogen-powered e-mobility for commercial vehicles says it has started a talent offensive, beefing up the organisation with top industry experts and EV pioneers. New recruits include Alexander Stucke as Head of Tender Management & Product Management Bus, Martin Lischka as Head of Corporate & Product Strategy, Dr Uwe Hansult as COO, Jochen Bauer as Head of Connected Drive & Digital Services and Dieter Fath as Member of the Board of Directors for Quantron in Switzerland.

NORWAY – Oslo-based communications, PR and content agency Blue-C has recruited Kent Erik Kristiansen, Nor-Shipping’s Head of Communications and Marketing, as its new Managing Director. Kristiansen joins the firm, which specialises in delivering services to Norway’s key maritime and energy business sectors, as it looks ahead to its ‘next chapter of development’ at home and overseas.

Kristiansen began in his new role this week, working from the team’s city centre base within the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association facility. He will sit alongside CEO Mark Fuhrmann and fellow agency director Christina Dupre Roos on the management team, serving key clients, targeting new business and supporting the agency’s specialist team of English language content and marketing professionals.

GERMANY – Frank Coles, former CEO of the now Wärtsilä owned subsidiary Transas, has moved to German headquartered Marine Digital as a strategic adviser. His new employer is a recent start up which concentrates on cutting vessel emissions and fuel consumed using sophisticated algorithms and AI.

Previously Coles worked as CEO of the Wallem Group, plus a maritime software company, had a lustrum as a maritime lawyer and he also spent 12 years at sea, was operations director for Pacific Basin Bulk Shipping in Hong Kong and CEO at Globe Wireless and president of Inmarsat Maritime.

US – The news that Representative Peter DeFazio, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, plans to retire from Congress prompted an instant comment from American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Chris Spear, which was fulsome in its praise. He said:

“Chairman Peter DeFazio is without question a gifted legislator and leader who, over the span of four decades, has made a difference in the lives of all Americans. His absence will come at a time when we need more elected officials willing to put the nation’s interest ahead of themselves. Few legislators have been more instrumental in driving national infrastructure policy than Chairman DeFazio. He’ll leave the House having cemented a lasting legacy that his constituents and all Americans will see, feel and use for decades to come. We thank him for his service and partnership.”

NETHERLANDS – US – Oleksii Kosenko has joined FourKites®, the real-time supply chain visibility platform, as Director Carrier Network Operations, EMEA, to accelerate the company’s carrier base in Europe. Prior to joining FourKites, Kosenko led the carrier sales teams at Uber Freight and sennder Technologies GmbH, and held a senior sales role at C.H. Robinson.

FourKites tracks shipments across every mode of transportation, including road, rail, ocean, air, parcel and courier. Working with carriers of all sizes the company tracks more than 2 million shipments a day globally for more than 750 of the world’s most recognised brands.

Photo: The concept ferry from Artemis Technologies which is hiring staff to help build its new electric vessel.