Rail freight UK

GB Railfreight is delighted to announce the appointment of James Cooper as Chairman. James commenced his new role on 29 November 2019. James has had a prestigious career spanning the infrastructure and financial services industries. Most recently James served as Chief Executive of Associated British Ports. Prior to this James has also been Chief Executive and Chairman of Red Funnel Ferries and has served in leading roles within Infracapital, BNP Paribas, and Hambros Bank. He brings considerable knowledge across a broad range of industries complementary to the GB Railfreight business and will be a valuable addition to an already strong and experienced senior leadership team. In September 2019, GBRf announced Infracapital’s new ownership of the company and James’s appointment highlights the business’s commitment to future growth and continuing to deliver a reliable and high-quality service for customers. This appointment marks a very exciting time for GBRf who have a turnover in excess of £200 million a year and operate over 1,000 trainloads a week, moving approximately 23% of the UK’s rail cargo. John Smith, GBRf Managing Director, and James will be working closely to ensure continued growth in freight, as the business makes a concerted effort to prioritise growth in the intermodal market and other key sectors as businesses look to more sustainable logistics solution. John Smith, Managing Director GBRf, said:

“I am thrilled James is joining the GBRf family. As a business, we have entered an exciting time and James’s wealth of experience will help us meet and exceed our ambitious growth plans. The industry continues to evolve and innovate, and James is best placed to lead us into the future of rail freight.”

 James Cooper said:

 “I am delighted to be joining the Board of GBRf. The company has an outstanding reputation in the sector and as GBRf enters a new chapter focusing on ambitious growth plans, I look forward to contributing to the business’s success.” 

Ed Clarke, Managing Director at Infracapital, said:

“We at Infracapital welcome James to GBRf. His breadth of experience across the wider infrastructure sector will complement and support GB Railfreight’s existing wealth of management expertise. We look forward to working closely together to achieve the sustainable growth ambitions of this exciting business.”