Our governance

The main decision-making, executive and managerial bodies at High Speed Two (HS2) Limited.

Board

The role of the board is to:

ensure effective governance of the organisation to make decisions at the right, and manage risk
shape, challenge and direct the agenda so we achieve our priorities
monitor performance and risk and make choices or recommendations to ministers on our priorities. This includes the amount and type of risk we’re willing to take in order to meet our strategic objectives
oversee relationships with our stakeholders and commercial partners

Board members usually meet every month.

Board members

Mike Brown CBE, Chair

Mike Brown CBE MVO was appointed as Chair of HS2 Ltd in July 2025.

He is chair of Affinity Water Ltd and a board member of Translink. Previously he was chair of the Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority for the Houses of Parliament, an adviser to Mott MacDonald and chair of their shareholder committee. He was also chair of the Rail Safety and Standards Board.

In his executive career, Mike was the commissioner for Transport for London for five years during a period of significant improvements. He was previously managing director of London Underground and London Rail, including leading public transport services for the successful Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. He also was the managing director of Heathrow Airport and led the turnaround in performance following the challenges of opening Terminal 5.

Mike is passionate about skills and apprenticeships in the transport sector and the potential opportunities for young people.

He was appointed as member of the Royal Victorian Order in 2002 and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2020. He has also been awarded an honorary doctorate from Queen’s University, Belfast.

Elaine Holt, Deputy Chair

Elaine Holt was appointed as Deputy Chair of HS2 Ltd in July 2020.

Elaine Holt has over 30 years’ experience in the transport and service industry and is highly experienced in working in complex, highly regulated environments subject to intense public, political and media scrutiny. She has extensive railway operations experience and a strong track record of running large customer operations and leading organisations through periods of significant change.

Elaine has held a number of board roles, including serving for over six years as a board member of National Highways.

Previously, Elaine held a number of senior roles within the UK rail industry, including chair and chief executive of Directly Operated Railways, chair of East Coast and managing director of First Capital Connect. She was also executive vice president for guest experience at Carnival UK, where she ran all operations for P&O Cruises and Cunard.

Mark Wild OBE, Chief Executive Officer

Mark Wild OBE, FREng has been chief executive of HS2 Ltd since December 2024.

Mark leads one of the largest infrastructure programmes in the UK – Britain’s newest high-speed railway stretching more than 140 miles between London and Birmingham and employing more than 33,000 people.

Mark draws on more than 35 years of experience leading complex infrastructure programmes in both public and private sectors in the UK and abroad.

Mark joined HS2 Ltd from SGN, one of the UK’s largest gas distribution networks, serving 7 million customers in Scotland, southern England and Northern Ireland. Most of his experience has been in operating or building major transport infrastructure, including as managing director of Westinghouse Signals, chief executive of Public Transport Victoria (Melbourne, Australia), and managing director of London Underground – one of the oldest and largest metro systems in the world with more than 1 billion journeys a year and 20,000 employees. He has a proven track record of transformational change on some of the largest and most complex projects around the world.

As chief executive of Crossrail Ltd (2018 to 2022) in London, a £20 billion programme building one of the world’s most advanced high-frequency passenger rail services, he led a rescue and recovery of the programme following earlier cost and schedule delays in 2018. This included rebuilding the organisation, completing construction and integrating it into one of the most successful new operating railways in the world – now known as the Elizabeth line.

Mark puts safety and sustainability at the heart of his work, and is passionate about helping develop a new and diverse generation of engineers to lead the industry.

Mark grew up in Durham in the North East of England. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and has a first-class engineering degree and an MBA from Leeds University.

Rachel McLean, Chief Financial Officer

Rachel McLean joined HS2 Ltd in March 2026 as Chief Financial Officer.

She previously served as Chief Finance Officer at Transport for London (TfL), appointed in October 2022, where she led the organisation’s overall budget and funding strategy, together with leading the technology products and operations, and commercial functions. During her tenure, she played a key role in TfL achieving an operational surplus for the first time and securing a multi-year funding settlement with HMG.

Rachel’s earlier career includes senior leadership roles across both the public and private sectors. She has been CFO for Crossrail, Finance Director for Operations at TfL, and a Board Member and Director General – Chief Financial Officer at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. She has also held senior positions at HMRC Customer Services, and prior to that spent nine years at TfL in asset management and finance leadership roles.  She has also served as a Non‑Executive Board Member and Chair of the Audit & Risk Assurance Committee at Sellafield Ltd.

Rachel is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

Emma Head, Chief Railway Officer

Emma Head joined HS2 Ltd in August 2015 and is now Chief Railway Officer, serving on the HS2 Ltd Board.

Emma has held several leadership roles at HS2 Ltd, including technical service delivery director. She has worked in the UK railway industry since 1999.

Before joining HS2 Ltd, Emma was director of safety strategy at Network Rail. There she improved workforce and passenger safety, made operational improvements at level crossings across the UK network, and assured critical asset improvement programmes.

Emma has experience from both client and contractor perspectives. She has contributed to major railway engineering schemes including West Coast route modernisation and London’s Crossrail project. Before moving client side, she held roles in large tier 1 and tier 2 contractors, working across the construction and rail sectors.

David Goldstone CBE, Non-Executive Director

David Goldstone CBE was appointed as Non-Executive Director of HS2 Ltd in June 2024.

David has had a long career leading major investment programmes for government and the wider public sector. Most recently, he set up and served as chief executive of the Houses of Parliament Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority from July 2020 until September 2024. He has been a board member of the Submarine Delivery Agency since 2022.

David was previously the chief operating officer of the Ministry of Defence, where he led a complex multibillion-pound transformation programme. He overhauled the Defence Operating Model, represented the department on the boards of the military commands and acted as sponsor for 12 arm’s length bodies.

As chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, David was responsible for delivering the regeneration legacy of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in east London. This included the development of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, thousands of new homes, new centres of employment and innovation, major visitor attractions and a new cultural and educational district. He has previously overseen the funding and delivery of the Olympic Park investment programme, including responsibility for the government’s £9.3 billion budget, and later served as Transport for London’s chief finance officer.

Earlier in his career, David spend 12 years delivering locally based government investment programmes, including establishing the delivery and commercial structures for the Building Schools for the Future and NHS LIFT programmes. He trained as a CIPFA accountant at the Audit Commission before moving to Price Waterhouse.

Ian King CBE, Non-Executive Director

Ian King CBE was appointed as Non-Executive Director of HS2 Ltd in July 2020 and is the lead board member for the Department for Transport.

Ian began his career in 1976 as a graduate entrant at Marconi, working in defence electronics manufacturing. He served as a finance director at Marconi Electronic Systems from 1992 to 1998 and became chief executive of Alenia Marconi following the merger of Marconi and British Aerospace merged in 1999 to form BAE Systems. He subsequently became group strategy and planning director at BAE systems.

In 2008, Ian was appointed chief executive of BAE Systems, a role he held until his retirement in June 2017. His current positions include lead directorship at the Department for Transport, senior adviser to Gleacher Shacklock, senior independent director at Schroders PLC and chair of Senior plc.

Anne McMeel, Non-Executive Director

Anne McMeel was appointed as Non-Executive Director of HS2 Ltd in January 2026.

Anne McMeel is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. She is a board member of the National Crime Agency and the chair of its audit, risk and assurance committee.

After holding various executive posts in London authorities, Anne joined the newly created Greater London Authority in 2001 as its first director of finance and performance. In 2007, she moved to the Metropolitan Police Service as director of resources, a role she held until 2012.

Since 2013, Anne has applied her risk, assurance and governance expertise across a range of organisations. Her roles have included adviser to KBR Inc. and board director positions at Keech Hospice Care, Transport for London, the Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority and the Rail Safety and Standards Board. She also served as an independent member of the Ministry of Defence Police Committee and the Arts Council England performance and audit committee.

Keith Smithson, Non-Executive Director

Kieth Smithson was appointed as Non-Executive Director of HS2 Ltd in June 2023.

Keith Smithson is a highly experienced leader in finance, treasury and transformation for large, complex organisations operating in regulated environments.

After qualifying as a chartered accountant with KPMG, Keith spent 35 years in banking and financial services, primarily in chief financial officer and treasury roles at HSBC and Barclays. His experience spans asset finance, retail banking, insurance, wealth management, corporate banking and capital markets in the UK and internationally.

Most recently Keith served as chief financial officer and board director of Barclays Europe. He has also been a board member of Big Society Capital Limited, a regulated provider of social investment capital in the UK.

Stephen Murphy, Non-Executive Director

Stephen Murphy was appointed as Non-Executive Director of HS2 Ltd in January 2026.

Stephen was chief executive of MTR UK from 2020 to 2024, overseeing the delivery of full Elizabeth line services and the establishment of infrastructure and property development businesses to support innovation in the UK rail industry.

Previously, Stephen served as managing director of MTR Elizabeth line from its inception in 2015, leading the organisation to first place sector performance across measures including punctuality, safety, workplace diversity and customer service. He is widely credited as a key driver of the organisation’s success.

Stephen began his career over 30 years ago as a British Rail graduate trainee and has since held leadership roles at Chiltern Railways, Irish Rail, Deutsche Bahn and London Overground. His career has been characterised by a strong focus on safety, reliability, customer service and continuous improvement.

Simon Wills, Non-Executive Director

Simon Wills was appointed as Non-Executive Director of HS2 Ltd in December 2025.

Simon Wills has a background in the energy sector, having held a wide range of commercial and operational roles at Centrica and previously British Gas, both in the UK and Europe. His roles have included managing director of Centrica Storage Ltd and group health and safety director.

Simon is chair of B&D Energy and a board member of National Highways, the Oil and Pipelines Agency and the ThamesWey Group.

He holds a BEng (Hons) in mechanical engineering, is an associate member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and holds the NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety.

Neil Reynolds, Non-Executive Director

Neil Reynolds was appointed as Non-Executive Director of HS2 Ltd in December 2025.

Neil is a chartered civil engineer with over 40 years’ experience in the planning, delivery and governance of major infrastructure programmes. His career spans senior leadership roles across client, contractor and consultancy organisations, covering both horizontal and vertical infrastructure.

he has held senior executive roles at CH2M (later Jacobs), where he led the international water business group, regional operations across the Middle East, North Africa and India, and global sales for the water and transportation business. He played a leading role in the integration of CH2M and Halcrow and supported assurance and delivery on major programmes including Thames Tideway Tunnel, Riyadh Metro, Expo 2020 Dubai and Qatar 2022.

He later served as president for EMEA at Exyte, overseeing financial restructuring and organisational alignment across a multi-country business delivering high-tech and safety-critical facilities.

Neil is a board member of Network Rail International and serves as chair of ICE Wales Cymru and CMI Wales. He is a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a chartered environmentalist and manager.

Fabienne Viala, Non-Executive Director

Fabienne Viala was appointed as Non-Executive Director of HS2 Ltd in December 2025.

Fabienne has over 35 years’ experience in the construction, energy and infrastructure sectors, bringing extensive leadership and governance expertise from both the UK and continental Europe. She has led complex, high-value programmes in regulated environments and has a strong track record of delivering transformation, improving performance and embedding sustainability.

As former chair and chief executive of Bouygues UK and UK country manager for Bouygues Construction, Fabienne oversaw major developments across healthcare, education and regeneration. She successfully turned around underperforming businesses, integrated acquisitions and delivered long-term value through operational excellence and innovation.

Fabienne has held several board and advisory roles, including board member of Build UK, president of the French Chamber of Great Britain and advisory board member at Durham University Business School. She is bilingual and bicultural, having been brought up in both the UK and France, and trained as a civil engineer in Paris.

Rob McIntosh, Non-Executive Director

Rob Macintosh was appointed as Non-Executive Director of HS2 Ltd in January 2026.

Rob has led two of Network Rail’s largest regions and was responsible for over half of the organisation’s capital investment portfolio before stepping back in early 2025.

During his time at Network Rail, Rob oversaw the successful delivery of major multibillion-pound investment programmes on the East Coast and Midland Main Line routes. He is also independent chair of the £10 billion Transpennine Route Upgrade programme board.

Before joining Network Rail, Rob worked across the rail supply chain in the UK and overseas. He began his career as an apprentice mechanical engineer, joining the Railtrack graduate training programme in 1996.