Highways & Transport Networks

I lead the Transport for the North Roads Team in working with Department for Transport, National Highways, and local Transport Authority partners in shaping policy and investment recommendations focusing on priorities for pan-northern road connectivity. Also, on supporting TfN partners with delivery of regional programmes, for example the delivery of electric vehicle charging.

I consider myself privileged to have enjoyed 25yrs experience managing the development and delivery of transport and local economic strategies and plans within the public and NGO sectors. Career highlights include work for Sustrans on delivery of National Cycle Network schemes, conceiving and managing one of the three national sustainable travel town projects in the mid noughties and partnership work with cities in mainland Europe on promoting public transport.

At TfN I work alongside a fantastic team of colleagues on evidencing, promoting and supporting delivery of the North’s ambitions for growing the economy, enhancing social inclusion and reducing carbon emissions from transport.

Mark Collins is Head of Future Transport at Transport for West Midlands and also represents TfWM on the board at ITS (UK). As part of his portfolio at TfWM, he is responsible for numerous technology and service delivery programmes. He recently led the Future Transport Zone programme in the West Midlands, which included elements such as Mobility Credits, Mobility Hubs, Mobility-as-a-Service, new modes including eScooters and WM On-demand. Separately, he oversees the CAV and related infrastructure activities as well as a developing transport behaviour change programme (the Influencing Transport Lab). He is also involved in establishing the future mobility strategy within TfWM, deploying the learnings from these innovation programmes. Before joining TfWM he spent 11 years at Jaguar Land Rover in a series of engineering and management roles including vehicle prototyping, vehicle packaging, technology research and advanced engineering. With a degree in Mechanical and Automotive Engineering he has extensive experience of delivering new technologies and mobility systems.

With Daniel Hobbs’s current role as Principal Technologist at Connected Places Catapult, he creates improved urban mobility through a targeted application of technology. Through end-to-end project involvement from concept, economic and financial business case, design, procurement, integration and commissioning, Daniel has successfully delivered technology projects in large urban centres across the UK, through projects such as smart streets. Prior to this Daniel was the ITS Lead at AECOM.

Anna Watt is the Transport Research Lead at Transport for West Midlands.  She leads a team of performance, research and spatial analysts, alongside digital twin developers to enhance our understanding of our performance of the network, and support transport policy development.

She blends a first career in IT with a second career in transport planning into a unique insight into transport data exploitation.

Mark Collins is Head of Future Transport at Transport for West Midlands and also represents TfWM on the board at ITS (UK). As part of his portfolio at TfWM, he is responsible for numerous technology and service delivery programmes. He recently led the Future Transport Zone programme in the West Midlands, which included elements such as Mobility Credits, Mobility Hubs, Mobility-as-a-Service, new modes including eScooters and WM On-demand. Separately, he oversees the CAV and related infrastructure activities as well as a developing transport behaviour change programme (the Influencing Transport Lab). He is also involved in establishing the future mobility strategy within TfWM, deploying the learnings from these innovation programmes. Before joining TfWM he spent 11 years at Jaguar Land Rover in a series of engineering and management roles including vehicle prototyping, vehicle packaging, technology research and advanced engineering. With a degree in Mechanical and Automotive Engineering he has extensive experience of delivering new technologies and mobility systems.

Kerry Blakeman is the Head of Security and Policing and Accountable Drone Manager at Transport for West Midlands (TfWM). Kerry is passionate about the benefit the use of drones can bring to the transport industry. The TfWM Drone team recently won a national award from the Association of Directors, Environment and Transport (ADEPT) for Drones, Data and Artificial Intelligence. The award recognised innovation in the use of drones to capture data more efficiently.

Kerry retired from West Midlands Police as a Chief Inspector in 2018. He spent several years policing in the transport sector as Head of Force Traffic and the lead for the multi-agency Safer Travel Policing team. He also served for 5 years as Head of Policing and Security at Birmingham Airport.

Sean Williams is the Founder and Chief Executive of AutogenAI. AutogenAI uses cutting-edge natural language processing technology to help companies write tenders, proposals and marketing copy, saving time and money and improving win rates. Sean has worked in research, policy, business development and operational management for some of the largest, most successful public service providers in the UK. He has designed and managed large-scale public service contracts both across the UK and abroad, managing businesses turning over in excess of £75 million and directly and indirectly employing over 900 staff. Sean founded, and was the Chief Executive at, Corndel Ltd, where he grew the business from scratch to 350 people. Sean sold Corndel in November 2020 to THI Holdings in a reported 40m+ sale. Sean is interested in artificial intelligence, the future of work, business creation, evidence-based policy, sustainable social enterprise, systems, incentives, technology, human potential, ideas and delivery.

I retired from Banking in 2006, and entered local politics in 2009, when I first became a County Councillor. Soon after, I also became a Borough Councillor for Woodfield Ward, Stevenage. In May 2018, I became Executive Member for Highways and Transport for Hertfordshire County Council. As well as my strategic role for the County Council, I really enjoy working on behalf of my communities, which I also do as a school governor at The Leys Primary and Nursery School. In the past, I have been finance director and captain of my golf club, treasurer of a large sports club and chairman of a tennis club, but I am currently a director / trustee of Groundwork East, who do good work to improve the environment.

Sarah has been working with Midlands Connect since early 2016, working to develop the Sub-national Transport Body into a single voice for the region.  She spends her time working with the partners to ensure an integrated approach to their work.  She also is a Teaching Fellow at Aston University.

Prior to joining Midlands Connect Sarah spent 20 years working as a transport planner and economist, developing business cases and proposals for projects all over the world; this includes working on business continuity and behavioural change for London2012, integrating transport services with the Dubai Metro and assessing bids for railways in South Africa.  

Kate Morris is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Transport Planning Professional with wide ranging experience in both the private and public sectors. She has over 30 years experience in the transport sector from policy and strategy development through to design and implementation.. She is Head of Transport Planning at Leeds City Council with responsibility across areas including policy and strategy, transport planning, development control and ITB, UTMC and traffic. Prior to joins Leeds she was a director at AECOM, leading the Strategic Planning and Advisory Sector across the Europe, Middle East, Africa and India.

Dr Rachel Allison is a climate professional who has worked across academia, consultancy and industry. She is a specialist in climate change with experience of researching the physical science basis, supporting climate mitigation efforts and delivering climate adaptation solutions. She is currently Climate Change Specialist at HS2 where she acting as a subject matter specialist, providing technical knowledge and support on climate adaptation and resilience management across the whole HS2 project. Additionally she supports HS2’s colleague carbon conscious training, facilitating workshops which provide colleagues with a recognised certification in carbon reduction and climate action.

As Director of Environment and Community Services at South Gloucestershire Council, Nigel is responsible for the Council's placed based services such as, planning, strategic infrastructure, highways, transport, economic development, waste, climate change, environmental services, regulatory services, community safety and development. Nigel has held this position since 2018, previous roles include Commissioning Director for Communities and Infrastructure at Gloucestershire County Council and Deputy Chief Executive for Stroud District Council.

Ian Hawthorn is the Assistant Director of Highways for London Borough of Hammersmith. Within his current role he leads on Greening the grey agenda, EV Charging, Hammersmith Bridge, Flood Risk, Network Management, Contract Management and Green infrastructure including street trees. Along with this Ian is also Chair of the Councils Climate adaptation Steering group, current Chair of the London Technical Advisory Group, London Highways Engineers Group and Member of Roads UK Board.

Ann Carruthers is Director of Environment and Transport for Leicestershire County Council responsible for all highways, transport, environment and waste services. She leads a team of 1,000 people operating a predominantly in-house delivery model.

Before joining Leicestershire CC, Ann has worked with a number of local authorities across Scotland and England covering the highways, transport, environment and growth agendas. This included working with Edinburgh City Council developing their congestion charging and tram projects and Kent County Council in dealing with the issues posed by Operation Stack, a potential new UK hub airport and engaging Government in an innovative Growth and Infrastructure Framework. Ann also spent a number of years as National Travel Demand Manager with Transit New Zealand responsible for introducing sustainable transport options and new ways of working across New Zealand’s state highway system.

Ann is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation and has taken over the role of ADEPT President for the forthcoming year.

Darren Divall's role at TfWM is to enable, support and facilitate road safety improvements across the West Midlands Combined Authority region. As Lead Coordinator for the 16 Regional Road Safety Partnership organisations, Darren ensures delivery of a robust and fit for purpose strategic approach aimed at achieving a 50% reduction in the number of killed and seriously injured casualties by 2030. His current focus is on the delivery of a Regional Road Safety Action Plan based on robust statistical evidence and community based insight, along with a new multi-agency Operational Working Agreement for average speed enforcement.

Darren began his road safety career in 1998 and has worked for three UK local authorities as well as TRL. He has over 20 years of international experience, formulating multi-sector road safety strategies and action plans, conducting road safety management capacity reviews, data collection and analysis, identifying solutions for vulnerable road users, delivering behaviour change and education programmes, and building capacity at all levels through research, technical notes and training.

Darren is a former Chairperson of the Institute of Road Safety Officers and Head of Road Safety GB Academy. He is also a judge for the Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards and represents TfWM on the PACTS Safe System Forum.