Kier, Arcadis leaders on High Speed Rail Group board: delivery lessons for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Kier Infrastructure’s managing director for rail and aviation, Mandy Duncan, and Arcadis’ senior account director for HS2, Jonathan Sharrock, have been appointed to the High Speed Rail Group board as the body sharpens its focus on practical delivery of UK high-speed schemes. Duncan brings cross-sector major project experience in rail, aviation, water and nuclear, including supply chain strengthening and long-term skills retention. Sharrock adds 13 years at the Department for Transport plus current responsibility for Britain’s largest infrastructure project, aimed at shaping “efficient and affordable” next‑generation rail investment beyond HS2.
Technical Brief
- HSRG’s remit includes advising on rail infrastructure that supports economic growth, productivity and regeneration-led development.
- The board appointments are timed to influence government decisions as it “looks to rail infrastructure investment”.
- Group chair Huw Merriman frames the technical challenge as delivering “efficient and affordable” next‑generation rail, not debating need.
Our Take
With Balfour Beatty already in the High Speed Rail Group and Kier Infrastructure now represented at board level, our coverage suggests HSRG is consolidating the UK’s major design-and-build contractors into a single advocacy bloc on high-speed rail policy.
Jonathan Sharrock’s 13 years at the Department for Transport mirror Huw Merriman’s move from minister to HSRG chair in the 2026-06-29 piece, signalling that the group is increasingly staffed by insiders who understand how to make schemes more ‘impossible to stop’ in Whitehall terms.
Kier’s internal restructuring into a single Infrastructure unit, reported in the 2026-01-06 article, means its new HSRG representation comes from a business now set up to bid for and deliver multi-sector UK megaprojects rather than siloed transport-only work.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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