Government infra advisor joins Tilbury Douglas owner’s board

National Infrastructure Commission boss Sir John Armitt has been appointed to the board of the company that owns Tilbury Douglas, Construction News can reveal.

Armitt was appointed a non-executive director of TD Bidco one day after last week’s announcement that he had been granted another term as chair of the body that advises the government on major infrastructure projects.

TD Bidco is Tilbury Douglas’s parent company and is owned and controlled by shareholders of Interserve Group, although it was spun off as a standalone company last summer.

Tilbury Douglas works in the construction, infrastructure and fitout sectors, having moved away from the energy-from-waste work that caused problems for the former Interserve. In an exclusive interview with CN in October, its MD Paul Gandy said the firm’s business plan boiled down to “sticking to our knitting”.

The National Infrastructure Commission describes itself as providing “expert, impartial advice to the government on infrastructure”. Its work focuses largely on strategy and rarely makes recommendations about specific projects.

Armitt’s appointment is his first new private-company role since he took on the £85,000-a-year, three-day-a-week role as chair of the commission in 2018.

The 76-year-old is also a non-executive director of developer Berkeley Group, a position he began in January 2007. He was chairman of National Express from January 2013 until 31 December 2022.

Asked about the processes surrounding its officials’ appointments to private companies, a National Infrastructure Commission spokesperson said: “The quality of the National Infrastructure Commission’s advice to government relies on the expertise and working knowledge of its independent commissioners, a number of whom have non-executive roles in the infrastructure sector.

“The commission operates a robust conflict of interest policy, with any new appointments disclosed on a monthly basis and a public register of outside interests published on our website annually. Commissioners are also expected to recuse themselves from any discussions where they stand to gain personally from any policy proposals.”

A former chief executive of Costain, Armitt has also been chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, chief executive of Network Rail and spent more than 20 years at John Laing, eventually chairing its international and civils divisions.

A Tilbury Douglas spokesperson said: “We are delighted that Sir John has been able to join the shareholder representation group in a non-executive role, bringing his extensive construction industry experience to the business. On a day-to-day basis, Tilbury Douglas’s board remains unchanged.”