Senior Rail Advisers Strengthen Efficiency Improvement Specialist
Operational improvement specialist Newton has made two senior appointments to its advisory board to strengthen its expertise in the sector.
Newton’s advisory board already consists of senior executives ranging from Rear Admirals to FTSE 100 Group Operations Directors.
Using their depth of experience to help guide the company’s work within the rail industry, they’ll also support Newton’s growth objectives in an expanding market place.
The latest members to be appointed are Lee Bartholomew and Tim Dugher, who between them have more than seven decades experience in the railway industry in Britain.
Tim Dugher has worked in a variety of roles across the sector, holding various executive positions. He began his career as a technical apprentice in the eastern region of British Rail in 1977, learning the practical side of maintaining trains on the shop-floor before working as a shift manager and then depot manager.
With a vast knowledge in engineering behind him he joined Angel Trains in 1995 as part of the corporate team, progressing from Head of Projects to Account Director, then Engineering Director and finally ending as Chief Operating Officer in 2009. Dugher is now the Chairman of the Railway Industry Supplier Approval Scheme and is still actively involved in the rail sector’s progression, making him a valuable addition to the Newton advisory board.
Lee Bartholomew has more than 35 years’ experience in the rail industry, in both the public and private sectors. He has managed businesses delivering a wide range of products and services including maintenance and testing of railway rolling stock, the design, construction and maintenance of railway infrastructure, and engineering consultancy.
Bartholomew has held Executive and Non-Executive Board level appointments for train operating companies, engineering consultancies and international support services businesses.
He is a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Director and active member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institute of Directors.
Newton was established in 2001 by a team of experienced, highly qualified, engineers with a proven pedigree in delivering improved operational performance. Since then, its business has grown by over 40% year-on-year and Newton now employs more than 150 full-time staff out of UK and North American offices.
The company has a strong track record in the rail industry, recently working with Bombardier to deliver improvements in output on both the Victoria Line Upgrade (VLU) and Sub-Service Lines (SSL) to beat the demands of the schedule.
Through working with line operators on various improvement areas including change and configuration management, material handling, build and manning hours, short interval controls and supplier management, Newton has helped Bombardier to significantly increase production output per line from an average of 2.4 to 6.3 cars per week.
Ian Quest, director of Newton, said the two senior appointments strengthen existing expertise in the rail industry and underlined Newton’s commitment to delivering savings and efficiencies in sector.
He said: “We appreciate that it takes many years of hands-on experience to comprehensively understand any one sector, so we work closely with a panel of industry experts who have invaluable sector-specific knowledge and expertise.
“We already have a strong delivery record within the rail industry and these recent appointments to our advisory board boost our pool of talent and support us in delivering tangible results for our clients.
“It’s about identifying and fixing problems, unlocking hidden potential, and delivering real bottom line value to our clients, and our new appointments will help reinforce that expertise.”
