Our board
The Railways Act 2005 abolished the regional Rail Passengers Committees and the former national Rail Passengers Council and a new organisation was created to represent the views of all rail passengers across Great Britain.
The organisation is structured as an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Transport, with 14 members. The Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government and the Greater London Authority are each able to appoint a member to the board. The remaining appointments are made by the Secretary of State for Transport. Recruitment to the Board was on an open recruitment basis, and appointment was based on a mix of skills, knowledge and competencies plus geographic spread across Great Britain.
Board members
Colin Foxall CBE is chairman of Passenger Focus and is also a non-executive director of Radian Asset Assurance Ltd and a member of the British Transport Police Authority.
David Burton was managing director of West Anglia Great Northern Railway from 1996-1999.
Philip Davis was chairman of the Rail Passengers Committee for the Midlands. A former trade union negotiator and voluntary sector CEO, he serves on a number of public and community bodies, including the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT). He led Telford and Wrekin Borough for five years and remains closely involved with local and regional public policy development.
Kate Gordon CB was a member of the Rail Passengers Committee for Eastern England and was previously a senior civil servant at the Health and Safety Executive. She is currently Chair of the Queen Elizabeth NHS hospital trust, King's Lynn.
James King is a member of the British Transport Police Authority. After a successful career in the advertising industry James established his own strategic business and marketing consultancy in 1996, which he continues to run today. James was appointed by the Scottish Ministers.
Christine Knights was chair of the Rail Passengers Committee for North East England. She is a member of the British Transport Police Authority and is experienced in the development of consumer organisations and consumer policy in Europe and the UK.
Dr Derek Langslow CBE was chairman of the Rail Passengers Committee for Eastern England and was previously chief executive of English Nature. He holds a number of non-executive roles including Chair of the East of England Tourist Board and is a trustee of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Deryk Mead CBE was chief executive of NCH, the leading children’s charity, from 1996 to 2004 after a career as a chief officer in local government. He is a Public Member of Network Rail and holds a number of non-executive positions including NHS West Midlands and the Meat Hygiene Board.
Bill Samuel was previously chief executive of the East of England Regional Development Agency and prior to that was chief executive of Peterborough City Council. He holds a number of non-executive positions and is Deputy Chair of the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation.
Barbara Saunders OBE is an independent consumer consultant with experience of public policy in the UK and European Union. She has held a number of non-executive positions and previously chaired the Financial Services Consumer panel and Insurance Ombudsman Bureau.
Marc Seale is currently the chief executive and registrar of the Health Professions Council and was previously public interest director for the Centre for Rail Skills.
Stella Mair Thomas is a communications, media and marketing consultant, and was formerly Head of the Independent Television Commission for Wales and the West of England. Stella was appointed by the National Assembly for Wales.
Nigel Walmsley is chairman of Tourism South East and of the Broadcast Audience Research Board. He was formerly chairman of Carlton Television and, earlier, chief executive of the Capital Radio Group.
Our Chief Executive
Anthony Smith is our Chief Executive. Having qualified as a solicitor, Anthony worked for five years as principal consumer lawyer for the Consumers’ Association, publishers of Which? This was followed by a year as the legal consultant for Consumers International, a worldwide federation of consumer groups.
Prior to joining Passenger Focus, Anthony was deputy and acting director of ICSTIS, the regulator of premium rate telephone services.
Our structure
If you would like to see details of the rest of our organisation please view our structure chart.