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Peter Hendy

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(Redirected from Gareth Dennis) British transport executive and politician (born 1953) This article is about the British transport executive. For the Australian politician, see Peter Hendy (Australian politician).

The Right HonourableThe Lord Hendy of Richmond HillCBE
Official portrait, 2024
Minister of State for Rail
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 July 2024
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byHuw Merriman
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 November 2022
Life peerage
Commissioner of Transport for London
In office
1 February 2006 – 24 September 2015
Preceded byRobert Kiley
Succeeded byMike Brown
Personal details
BornPeter Gerard Hendy
(1953-03-19) 19 March 1953 (age 71)
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour (since 2024)
Other political
affiliations		Crossbench (2022–2024)
OccupationManaging Director, CentreWest: (1994–1997)
Deputy Director, FirstGroup: (1997–2001)
Commissioner of Transport for London: (2006–2015)
Chairman, Network Rail (2015–2024)

Peter Gerard Hendy, Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill, CBE (born 19 March 1953), is a British transport executive and politician who has served as Minister of State for Rail since July 2024.

Early life and education

Hendy is the younger son of Jack Hendy and the Honourable Mary Best, youngest daughter of Philip George Best, 6th Baron Wynford. His brother is John Hendy, Baron Hendy KC.

Hendy was educated at Latymer Upper School and the University of Leeds, where he graduated in Economics and Geography in 1975.

Career

Transport for London's Commissioner, Peter Hendy, and the Revd James Westcott of St Chad's Church

London Transport

Hendy started his career in the public transport industry in 1975 as a London Transport graduate trainee. He moved up the career ladder, eventually taking on the role of managing director of CentreWest London Buses Ltd in 1989, managing it under London Transport ownership.

First Bus

In 1994, he led CentreWest through a management buyout with staff involvement, and subsequent expansion. After the takeover of CentreWest by FirstGroup in 1997, Hendy became Deputy Director UK Bus for FirstGroup, responsible for bus operations in London and southern England, bus development, and the operation of Croydon Tramlink. He also became a director of New World First Bus in Hong Kong.

Transport for London

In 2001, he was appointed to the position of managing director of Surface Transport for Transport for London (TfL), under Ken Livingstone's mayoralty of London. During this period, bus patronage in London grew substantially. On 1 February 2006, he took up the position of Commissioner of Transport for London. He continued in post after the election of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London in 2008.

During the London 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, Hendy chaired the 2012 Games Transport Board, which worked with LOCOG, transport operators, local authorities and others to ensure transportation of athletes, officials, staff, media and spectators across London. He was subsequently knighted for his work at the Games. During 2014, Hendy reportedly spent over £1,200 in taxpayer-provided money on lunches and dinners, including on one occasion more than £90 in alcohol. During 2012, Hendy's salary was £650,000.

In February 2015, Hendy was criticised by the Fawcett Society for attending a men-only dinner held by the Transport Golfing Society, as a guest of Alexander Dennis. Hendy apologised and made a personal donation to the Fawcett Society.

In July 2015, Hendy left the position of Commissioner, replaced on an interim basis by Mike Brown (the Managing Director of London Underground and London Rail).

Network Rail

In July 2015 he was appointed chair of Network Rail by the then Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin. In June 2023, he was reappointed to the role to serve for a further two years.

In 2024, Hendy pressured engineering consultancy SYSTRA to dismiss rail engineer Gareth Dennis for publicly voicing safety concerns regarding overcrowding at London's Euston station. Dennis characterized the station's design as "unsafe", a claim supported by an improvement notice from the Office of Rail and Road regarding passenger safety. Hendy insisted SYSTRA take action against Dennis, threatening to withhold public contracts from the company. SYSTRA dismissed Dennis in early July 2024, stating in an email that he had "brought the name / reputation of SYSTRA Ltd and Network Rail into disrepute", referencing the article and Hendy's complaint about it. At the Railway Industry Association conference in November 2024 - having left Nework Rail following his appointment to government - Hendy apologised for suggesting that Network Rail could withold contracts from a company based on media comments by an employee. Since the controversy, changes have been made at Euston to platform announcements as well as changing an advertising screen to display passenger information.

Department for Transport

On 8 July 2024 he was appointed to Keir Starmer's new Labour government as a minister of state in the Department for Transport, thereby leaving his role as chairman of Network Rail.

Other appointments

Between 2013 and 2015, Hendy was the chairman of International Association of Public Transport.

In July 2017 he was appointed chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation, by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, which is developing the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

In July 2019 he was appointed by the then Prime Minister Theresa May as a trustee of the Science Museum Group which incorporates the National Railway Museum in York. Hendy is also an independent trustee of the London Transport Museum. In March 2023, Hendy was appointed chairman of the Heritage Railway Association.

In June 2020, he was appointed chair of the Union Connectivity Review. The terms of reference were published on 3 October 2020. The review was published in November 2021.

He is also the Honorary Chairman of the London Bus Museum.

Honours

Insignia of Knight Bachelor

Hendy was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours "for services to Public Transport and to the community in London." Following the successful operation of transport during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games he was knighted for services to transport and the community in the 2013 New Year Honours.

Hendy has been awarded the following honorary degrees: Doctor of Science by City, University of London in 2010; Doctor of Engineering by the University of Bath in 2014; Doctor of Laws by the University of Leeds in 2015; and Doctor of Letters by Queen Mary University of London in 2018.

It was announced on 14 October 2022, that as part of the 2022 Special Honours, Hendy would receive a life peerage. On 17 November 2022, Hendy was created Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill, of Imber in the County of Wiltshire.

Personal life

Sir Peter Hendy's RM1005 on Route 188, at Canada Water, London.

Hendy is married to Sue Pendle, a human resources consultant; the couple, who live in Richmond, London, have two children.

Hendy owns two roadworthy London AEC Routemaster buses. He is part of the group of organisers of Imberbus, the 23A scheduled bus service that runs once a year, to raise money for charity, to the isolated and abandoned Wiltshire village of Imber, which is surrounded by military firing ranges on Salisbury Plain and is normally closed to the public. On the appointed day in 2019, 28 double-decker buses operated the route at 15-minute intervals from Warminster station.

In 2013, Peter Hendy, who was then the Commissioner of Transport for London, was accused of engaging in a nine-month affair with a call girl. She alleged that Hendy provided her with several Oyster cards loaded with £10 as gifts.

References

  1. "Parliamentary career for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill". parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  2. "The Gazette". thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  3. "Ministerial Appointments: July 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  4. "Minister of State (Rail Minister) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  5. Profile, burkespeerage.com. Accessed 20 January 2023.
  6. Stockley, Philippa (26 October 2017). "Meet London's most powerful people: Sir Peter Hendy, chairman of Network Rail, reveals how he keeps the capital on track". Evening Standard. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  7. "Peter Hendy addresses Leeds Business School Alumni". Leeds University Business School. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Sir Peter Hendy CBE – Biography" (PDF). International Association of Public Transport. 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  9. ^ Milmo, Dan (6 July 2007). "Former conductor keeps London's wheels turning". The Guardian.
  10. "Londons bus improvements get Parliamentary seal of approval". Transport for London. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2022. London has seen bus usage increase by 40 per cent since 2000/01 while elsewhere in England bus usage has fallen by seven per cent.
  11. ^ "Knights Bachelor" (PDF). Cabinet Office. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  12. "Olympic success earns TfL chief Sir Peter Hendy £650,000 as bonuses are paid". www.standard.co.uk. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  13. "Sir Peter Hendy: The Tube boss, a golf society, and a night of 'exciting tight dresses'". The Independent. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  14. "Mike Brown appointed new commissioner of Transport for London". BBC News. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  15. Crerar, Pippa (24 December 2015). "Sir Peter Hendy: 'We need to pay rail bosses by performance'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  16. "Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, reappointed as Chair of Network Rail". GOV.UK. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  17. ^ Stone, Jon (29 August 2024). "UK rail minister got engineer sacked for raising safety concerns". Politico. Axel Springer SE. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  18. ^ Hill, Amelia (29 August 2024). "Ex-Network Rail chair threatened firm over engineer's Euston criticism". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  19. "Rail regulator requires crowd management improvements at Euston Station". Office of Rail and Road Media Centre. 18 October 2023. Archived from the original on 1 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  20. Philip Georgiadis (6 November 2024). "UK rail minister apologises for response to Euston station criticism". Financial Times. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  21. Thomas Wintle (7 November 2024). "UK rail minister apologises for threatening messages over Euston safety concerns". RailTech. ProMedia Group. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  22. Tony Grew (10 December 2024). "Euston big screen to show travel updates, not ads". BBC News. Retrieved 11 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. "Ministerial appointments". GOV.UK. 8 July 2024.
  24. "Peter Hendy appointed as transport minister". railnews.co.uk. 8 July 2024.
  25. "Acting Chair appointed at Network Rail". Rail Business UK. 19 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Prime Minister appoints eight new Trustees to the Board of the Science Museum Group | Science Museum". www.sciencemuseum.org.uk. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  27. "Our board". Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Lord Hendy becomes heritage railway chair". RailBusinessDaily. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  29. "Union connectivity review: terms of reference". GOV.UK. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  30. "Union connectivity review: setting a four-nations approach to cross-border transport investment". CBI. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  31. "LBM Honorary President, Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill – London Bus Museum". Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  32. United Kingdom:"No. 57855". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 31 December 2005. p. 8.
  33. "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 1.
  34. "Political Peerages 2022". GOV.UK. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  35. "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  36. "Imberbus". Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  37. Baker, John (12 August 2019). "Buses will go to the deserted village of Imber on Salisbury Plain". Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  38. Luck, Adam (5 September 2024). "Lord Hendy allegedly gave his escort lover £10 Oyster cards – now he's fixing Britain's railways". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 September 2023.

External links

Civic offices
Preceded byRobert Kiley Commissioner of Transport for London
2006–2015 		Succeeded byMike Brown
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded byThe Lord Jackson of Peterborough Gentlemen
Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill 		Followed byThe Lord Prentis of Leeds
Heads of public transport authorities in London
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