The Women in Rail London Committee are thrilled to announce the second part of our Leadership Journey series – A Learning from Leaders Panel and Networking session, kindly hosted by Deloitte.

When: Tuesday 4^th February 2025

Order of the evening:

17.30 Arrival and refreshments

18.00 Panel Q&A

19.00 Networking and hot refreshments

20.30 Close

Where: Deloitte, 2 New Street Square, London, EC4A 3BZ

Facilitator:

Mary Hewitt – Partner, Transport and Deloitte MCS Ltd

Mary is a partner in Deloitte’s Strategy & Transformation Practice, with over twenty years international experience in both industry and consulting, with a focus on UK Rail.  She has previously held senior positions across the UK Rail sector including Strategy & Policy Director for Arriva UK Trains, Managing Director of Chiltern Railways and a secondment into Great British Railways Transition Team to lead the development of the 30 year industry strategy.

She is an experienced Board member within highly political or regulated environments, and frequently engages with government and other stakeholders to drive change across the Railway.  Prior to joining the rail industry, Mary worked in senior policy and strategy roles in the UK power sector where she was responsible for understanding and influencing the commercial implications of government policy on existing and future assets.

She started her career in strategy consultancy, with PwC initially before working for smaller strategy consultancies, leading numerous international assignments across a range of clients. She has a First Class MEng in Chemical Engineering with Management from the University of Birmingham.

Panellists:

Gwendoline Cazenave – CEO, Eurostar Group

Gwendoline Cazenave was appointed CEO of Eurostar Group on 1 October 2022. The group was created by the merger of Eurostar and Thalys to create a European champion of high-speed rail. As part of her mandate, Gwendoline Cazenave will integrate the two companies, with the ambition of creating the backbone of sustainable travel, carrying 30 million passengers by 2030. This growth project aims to create a unique travel experience under a single brand. An enthusiastic European, she is guided by the wish to connect five European countries and 245 million people ever more efficiently. As a committed leader, she wishes to contribute to the revolution of sustainable travel by advancing rail as a responsible alternative to road and air travel. Although Gwendoline Cazenave began her career in auditing and finance, she quickly became a recognised operational manager in the rail sector, with a career marked by strategic achievements and successful transformations. During her 20 years at SNCF, she took up major challenges: in 2008, for example, she took over the management of the TER Brittany regional network, which had major strategic and political implications. In 2016, she became head of TGV Atlantique and took on the challenge of launching two high-speed lines, to Rennes and Bordeaux, at the same time. After a spell in strategy consulting at Oliver Wyman, she returned to the world of railways – and trains became her second home. Originally from the South of France, Gwendoline Cazenave is a graduate of Sciences Po Grenoble, the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Reims and McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She is a member of the Board of Tallano Technologies, a member of the Board of Union Financière de France (UFB), where she heads the Audit, Risks and Appointments Committee, and a member of the Board of Irish Rail. She is also a mentor in the NGO Article 1, which works for equal opportunities for underprivileged youth.

Sambit Banerjee – Joint CEO, Siemens Mobility Limited

Sambit Banerjee is the Joint Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Rolling Stock & Customer Services for Siemens Mobility Limited UKI. He was appointed as Joint CEO in August 2023, having previously held the Managing Director role since 2019 and prior to that the Finance Director role since 2013. Sambit first joined Siemens in 1992 and has since worked for a variety of Siemens businesses spanning multiple markets across three continents. Sambit is a Director of the Board for Siemens Mobility Ltd, UKI. Together with Rob Morris, he is responsible for the overall business for UK and Ireland. In his day-to-day role, Sambit oversees the delivery of new train fleets for the UK. These include, amongst others, the forthcoming Piccadilly line trains for London Underground and the existing fleets for Eurostar and Thameslink. His business is also responsible for maintenance, modifications and upgrades of existing trains across a network of Siemens Mobility-built depots in the UK. Additionally, Sambit drives the development of Siemens Mobility’s new train manufacturing facility in Goole, East Yorkshire. Start of construction was marked by the Prime Minister in July 2020 and it was officially opened by the Secretary of State for Transport in October 2024.

David Jordan – COO, Angel Trains

David is an esteemed and long-standing member of the Angel Trains team, joining the business in 2002. He is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with over 25 years’ experience in the rail industry, holding the position of Head of Commercial from 2011 and COO from 2018. He is also a non-Executive Director of the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and Readypower Group.

Ellie Burrows – Regional Managing Director, Southern Region, Network Rail

Ellie is an experienced director and leader with a demonstrated history of working in the Rail industry.

Ellie has been working in the UK rail industry for more than 20 years over which she has gained wide ranging experience across different regions, operators, disciplines and service types. Ellie has a proven track record in leading business improvement across wider teams both from internal and external stakeholders.

Ellie’s most recent role prior to becoming RMD Southern was as route director Anglia where in partnership with train and freight operators she was able to deliver significant improvements in performance and safety and support the Elizabeth Line introduction. Ellie also transformed relationships with a range of key external stakeholders which were pivotal to delivering enhancement and change programmes.

Ellie has previously worked on the Southern Region, having been both train service director and deputy managing director for Southeastern and Area Director in both the Kent and Sussex routes.

Ellie is passionate about developing people and skills in rail and is Chair of the Chartered Institute of Railway Operators (CIRO), additional Ellie is Chair of the RSSB System Safety Risk Group bringing the industry together to deliver on the industry ‘Leading Health and Safety on Britain’s Railways’ strategy.