A new poll of around 1,000 Yorkshire and Humber adults has found that 60 per cent of respondents in the region chose York as the new headquarters for Great British Railways. The others were divided between Doncaster (20 per cent), Hull or Wakefield (both 10 per cent). The government’s competition from towns and cities to host the GBR hq has attracted 42 entries ranging from Camborne in Cornwall to Dundee in Scotland. A shortlist is set to be announced in May, and a final decision will follow in June.

New CEO for FirstGroup

FirstGroup has named a new chief executive to succeed Matthew Gregory, who stepped down last year after board room clashes involving its largest shareholder. His successor is Graham Sutherland, who was formerly the head of telecomms company KCOM Group. The new CEO will start work on 16 May, while executive chairman David Martin will become non-executive again from July.

CrossCountry appoints HR director

CrossCountry has chosen Wendy Smith to be its HR and safety director. She was previously head of human resources at HS2 Ltd. CrossCountry said she also has ‘significant experience of unionised environments’. She will join CrossCountry in early summer.

ORR names economics director

Will Godfrey has been appointed as the Office of Rail and Road’s new director of economics, finance and markets. He is currently a director on the price review at water regulator Ofwat. However, he is already familiar with the ORR, because he left its predecessor the Office of Rail Regulation in 2005, where he was head of competition economics.

source= http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2022/04/20-york-favoured-as-gbr-hq.html