Peter Wilkinson
peter.wilkinson@renaissancetrains.comPeter Wilkinson CV (PDF 124kb)
About Peter Wilkinson
Pete is the Managing Director and an owner-partner of First Class Partnerships. Pete has full P+L accountability for all aspects of the development and management of this highly respected consultancy company, including its bureaus is Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe. A former railway managing and commercial director and a board member of one of the world's leading financial institutions, Pete is of the Industry's most universally recognised and respected strategic and commercial advisors. Pete is a leading strategy advisor to both public and private sector rail organisations throughout Europe. Specialising in the restructuring of rail industry structures and their commercialisation, Pete has been instrumental in the market entry of corporate entities into the rail industry across Europe.Pete was appointed by the UK Department for Transport as Chief Negotiator for the complex exit negotiations and commercial restructuring of a number of key UK franchises. This involved tri-partite negotiations between DfT, Network Rail and a large train operating owning group. Previously, Pete led for the government, the re-franchising of the Greater Anglia and South Eastern rail franchises in the UK, both of which are now very successful and financially strong franchises. Pete was appointed Lead Advisor to the GoVia partnership between Keolis (an SNCF subsidiary) and the Go Ahead Group and was instrumental in their successful competition for the multi-billion pound Integrated Kent Franchise, operating both commuter and high speed domestic services in the south east of England.
In the UK, Pete advises a wide range of clients such as, the UK Government, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), Infrastructure companies, Train Operator Owning Groups and several major Industry contractors and franchise operators.
Internationally, Pete advises a range of rail transport authorities and train operating companies in countries including Sweden, Denmark, Argentina, Poland, Hungary and other central and eastern European transport authorities. Pete is recognised for having assisted a number of foreign investment and operating companies successfully enter the UK and other commercialised rail markets in Europe, including the Danish state railway (DSB), SNCF and the Hong Kong MTR-Corporation.
Prior to a break from the UK rail sector, during which he worked on the world's financial markets as a Board member with a multi-national financial services group, Pete had worked in Britain's railways for over 9 years, starting within the London Underground. Pete has held a number of very senior industry posts, having pursued a career in general management with an emphasis on the commercial activities and industry structures underpinning financially viable rail operations.
In 1998 Pete was appointed a member of the Labour Government's Finance and Industry Group. This influential body of industrialists exists to advise members of The Cabinet and very senior civil servants on matters relating to the definition of industrial and economic policy and the implications of implementation.
Pete joined British Rail in 1994 as Managing Director of an engineering services company and was responsible for its commercial revival through the active marketing of its services throughout the rail industries of the UK, Hong Kong and Eastern Europe. This regeneration laid the foundations for the successful privatisation of this company, the process of which Pete led. This company remains highly successful operating in the private sector to this day.
At BR Board HQ, Pete supported the preparation of South and East group train operating companies for privatisation. Instrumental in shaping and implementing the performance regime still embracing the train operating companies within this region today, Pete was then appointed Commercial Director of West Anglia and Great Northern train operating company. He took a leadership role in restructuring the commercial organisation, significantly enhancing the revenue profile of this TOC and ensuring its successful transfer into the private sector.
Prior to joining the BR Board, Pete was a General Manager of the London Underground (LUL). He joined LUL when the company was still recovering from the colossal human and financial effects of the fire which engulfed the ticket hall at Kings Cross station in 1987. Pete played a significant role in the process of restructuring the company into self accounting businesses with modern corporate governance and was a key figure in breaking the stranglehold of the Unions over outdated and restrictive working practises prevalent throughout the depots and workshops and engineering structures by removing them to the position of becoming 'support services'.
Pete has an Honours degree in Industrial Science that he took at the University of Sheffield in 1984. He is also a master's graduate of the renowned French AXA owned University of business management in Bordeaux, having completed 2 years of financial and risk management.