Railtrack, the owner of rail tracks and stations, has completed a
reorganisation of its corporate affairs department by appointing two
communication heads, responsible for internal and corporate PR.
Ken Hunter, currently employee communications manager at Safeway, will
join Railtrack as head of internal communications next month, reporting
to corporate affairs director Philip Dewhurst.
Hunter will be charged with making staff at Railtrack more responsive to
customers and the train operating companies. ’These are things that the
old railway industry was not very good at,’ said Dewhurst.
Hunter was internal communications manager at energy company the Eastern
Group from 1993 to 1996.
He joins Nicky Louth-Davies, who has been appointed head of corporate
communications. She joined Railtrack two years ago as marketing and
communications manager, and will now be responsible for major
communications projects, advertising, publications, sponsorship, market
research and events.
Before joining Railtrack, Louth-Davies was a PR officer at Oxford
Brookes University. She has also worked for management consultancy Pera
International.
Louth-Davies and Hunter are among five heads appointed to newly-created
posts, reporting to Dewhurst. The others are: Roger Shire, head of media
relations; Simon Miller, head of public affairs; and Peter Durman, head
of investor relations.
Miller was joined this week by newly-appointed public affairs manager
Fiona Bulmer, who reports to him. Bulmer was political adviser to
President of the Board of Trade, Ian Lang for over four years, until
May.
Dewhurst, who joined Railtrack in 1995, oversees a department of 32, and
has partial responsibility for public affairs teams in Birmingham,
Glasgow, Manchester and York, who communicate with local authorities,
MPs and the regional media.
