Managing Director Susan Cooklin shares with us her manifesto for Route Services and how they are driving carbon reduction while becoming more resilient to extreme weather conditions. She describes how they help staff across all of Route Services have a clear line of sight to its purpose. She also outlines what she sees ahead for Network Rail and how she is preparing Route Services to support that.
Tough choices to stay true to purpose
Daksh shares with us the vision and purpose that have been instrumental in driving 10 times revenue growth over the last 14 years. He discusses the practical implications of having a strong moral compass, as well as the little things that make a big difference. He also talks about how they created transparency for their staff during Covid and his own view of how one becomes a successful CEO.
Grow your business, share your purpose
Balancing for successful sustainability
Our guest is Daniel (Dan) Faust, Chief Executive, AECOM Americas East Region. AECOM is a global architectural, engineering and construction company.
Dan shares what “sustainable” means to him. He describes the three groups he has to balance for successful projects, how they make decisions about who they work with, and how asking “why” drives everything they do. He also shares what he has been reading and how that has shaped his own approach to leadership.
Dan is AECOM's Chief Executive within the U.S. East Region, Central and South America. In this role he is responsible for growth, operational performance, and client account management for all AECOM business units including Transportation, Environmental, Water Resources, Power, Program & Construction Management and Architectural & Building Engineering. AECOM’s East/Latin America Region is its largest, home to over 8000 employees with annual revenue of over $2.1 billion.
Prior to joining AECOM, Dan served as Chief Engineer/Director of Engineering for the Delaware River Port Authority in Philadelphia. In this role, he was responsible for the development and implementation of DRPA’s capital program across all core facilities including four long-span toll bridges, a commuter rail system, and various marine/port facilities. In his time at DRPA, Dan developed a particular expertise in the field of risk-based asset management, and was directly responsible for organizing, developing and implementing DRPA’s infrastructure security plan following the events of September 11, 2001.
Dan has over 35 years of industry experience with a proven ability to deliver in highly complex organizational environments. He is a consensus builder with a track record of achieving results that balance geo-political, business, community and regulatory interests. Dan has a history of successful management of high profile and complex infrastructure projects & operating facilities within strict budget & schedule constraints.
Dan received a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Delaware and a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management from Drexel University.
Dan Faust
What does it mean for a business to be sustainable?
Our guest is Scott Wardrop, Chief Executive, VINCI Construction UK and Eurovia UK. Scott shares with us how they think about the sustainability of their UK business and how that links with their vision of local partnership. He talks about the tensions between top down and bottom-up strategies that come with being part of a global group and describes how they harness internal ideas to allow them to play a pathfinder role for the whole sector.
Together with their associated companies, Eurovia teams are responsible for improving over 50,000 kms of the UK’s highways network – they deliver specialist highway services across the largest, dedicated, highways portfolio within the UK, including strategic road network, DBFO motorway and trunk roads, and the local authority network.
Eur. Ing. Scott Wardrop BEng MICE FCIHT FIoD
With over 34 years’ experience in the construction industry covering various engineering and management roles in infrastructure, civil engineering, and specialist contracting, Scott is widely respected and recognised for his experience within the highway and transportation sector.
In his role as Chief Executive, he leads VINCI Construction and Eurovia’s UK businesses, covering highways and public realm maintenance, design, construction, materials production, research and development and consultancy.
Scott is particularly passionate about the health, safety and environment for all those involved in highway works in addition to the community and economic benefits that investment in highway infrastructure provides. He is particularly keen to champion a step change in working processes, leading best practice in safety, innovation, inclusion and sustainability – as a founder member of the Highway Sector Council he is part of shaping the business case for investment in our highway and public realm infrastructure and networks to meet future community needs and climate challenges.
Scott Wardrop
Mark Horsley - Northern Gas Networks
Our guest is Mark Horsley, Chief Executive Officer of Northern Gas Networks, the business that delivers gas to the North of England through a network of more than 37,000 km of gas pipes.
He describes how Northern Gas Networks moved to industry leading performance by focusing on their customers, the communities they operate in, and their own employees and partners. He also shares how a big setback in his career changed his approach to leadership. And, he highlights why he thinks it’s critical that private companies don’t wait for government action on net zero – and gives practical examples of what can be done to accelerate needed private sector investment.
Mark has been Chief Executive Officer of Northern Gas Networks (NGN) since 2011.
He has over 40 years of experience in the energy sector. Since joining NGN the company has transformed its approach to customer service, securing 12 national accolades for customer and employee experience, including a National Business Award for ‘Customer Focus’.
Mark was awarded ‘Inspirational Leader’ at the UK Employee Experience Awards in March 2015 in recognition of his innovative approach to employee engagement which has been instrumental to NGN’s cultural transformation.
Mark has held a number of senior appointments in the industry including Equity Partner and Head of Power Distribution at EC Harris, an international built asset consultancy, Strategy and Central Programmes Director at Scottish Power and President and Chief Operating Officer at CE Electric UK. Mark held the post of Chairman of the UK Energy Networks Association from 2004 to 2006, and was Chairman of the Energy Innovation Centre (EIC) from 2014 to 2017. He was appointed Non-Executive Director of the EIC in September 2017.
Mark Horsley
Matt Westmore - Health Research Authority
Matt (he/him) talks about the journey they have been on to identify and realise a clear, distinctive purpose in a complicated environment. He shares lessons for any leader who realises that the pursuit of purpose requires an organisation to embrace innovation and manage new risks. He describes how they ensure that their purpose drives their strategy, rather than the other way round, and how they engage with a broader ecosystem to deliver that purpose.
The HRA works in partnership with others to support and regulate health and social care research in the UK, with responsibility to protect and promote the interests of patients and the public.
Matt has a background in research funding, policy and practice. He was previously a professor of enterprise with a focus on improving the relevance, transparency and quality of research at the University of Southampton and remains an adjunct Professor.
Matt Westmore
Matt Stanton - Barambah Organics
In this episode, we’ll be hearing from Matt Stanton, Chief Executive of Barambah Organics, a leading organic dairy business in Australia, with private equity and family ownership.
Matt shares with us how vertical integration and end-to-end control of the business allows Barambah Organics to produce “how dairy is meant to be”. He discusses managing the tension between purpose and short-term profit, why stakeholder capitalism matters to him, and how his own thinking has changed over time. He also discusses why they used one approach for developing their purpose and a different one for their strategy – even though both ran somewhat in parallel.