Meet The Team
We are a team of experienced, enthusiastic people bringing together years of rail experience and a passion to make the delivery of new high-speed operations a resounding success.
Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do – whether it is with each other, or with Avanti West Coast, or with our partners at HS2 Ltd and the Department For Transport.
This is unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape the future of UK rail, and as a business we relish this chance to deliver huge change across our industry.
Our Leadership Team:
Shamit Gaiger OBE - Managing Director
Shamit was appointed the Managing Director of WCPD in 2022. She has an extensive career in rail, having held roles at the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and at National Skills Academy for Rail as well as leading the Rail Sector Deal on behalf of HM Government at the Department for Transport.
She also sits as a non-executive director of both Women in Rail and the Campaign for Better Transport, as well as President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport’s (CILT) Railway Study Forum.
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Anthony Perret - Interim Project Management Office (PMO) Director
Anthony is on secondment from infrastructure consultancy firm AECOM to be WCPD’s Interim Project Management Office (PMO) Director. He has been at AECOM for nearly four years and beforehand he spent over 11 years at the Rail Safety and Standard Board.
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Gary Miller - Finance and Contracts Director
Gary has been Finance and Contracts Director with WCPD since it began in December 2019. He has been involved with FirstGroup over the last 16 years, including eight years delivering franchise bids and leading on a wide spectrum of finance, transition and transformation projects across the Rail Division.
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Joe Parkes - Business Design and Organisation Director
Joe joined WCPD in June 2024 from NRS Healthcare, with a 13-year career in both HR and Service Operations leadership positions across logistics, engineering and rail sectors. His experience includes roles at industrial services firm ERIKS UK and Ireland; delivery companies DPD UK and TNT; Shell Energy; and Network Rail.
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Joost Noordewier - Customer Experience and Commercial Director
Having moved from the Netherlands to the UK in 1998 for his post-graduate degree in Transport Management, Joost has been involved with FirstGroup for nearly two decades, helping to successfully win bids and mobilise new companies. He has been at WCPD as Customer Experience and Commercial Director since its start in December 2019.
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Katherine Lewton - Head of Partnerships
Katherine has been involved with FirstGroup and its companies for over two decades. She has supported successful bid wins and helped mobilise new operators, including West Coast Partnership. She joined WCPD as the Head of Partnerships when it begun in December 2019.
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Russell Evans - Train Services Director
Russell has over 25 years’ experience in the UK rail industry starting in Railtrack and Network Rail. He has been involved with FirstGroup’s Rail Division including nine with Great Western Railway. Russell joined West Coast Partnership Development as Train Services Director in April 2020.
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Simon Aslett - Rolling Stock Director
Simon was appointed Rolling Stock Director in June 2024, having been with WCPD for four years prior as the Head of Fleet, Commercial, working on the design of the high-speed train. He boasts an extensive railway career of 26 years with previous roles at FirstGroup, Bombardier Transportation, Eversholt Rail and RailTrack.