Porterbrook Leasing is pleased to announce that Andy Pitt has been appointed as the Company’s new Non-Executive Director and he will be joining the Board on 1 May 2017.

Andy is a business leader with over 30 years experience in rail. He was part of OPRAF at rail privatisation that led both the franchising programme and the specification of rolling stock requirements in the first generation franchises. From 1997 onwards he was a key Executive within Stagecoach and South West Trains. He led business development and franchised bids for Stagecoach and was Managing Director for the South West Trains franchise from 2009 to 2012. Latterly Andy has been Executive Chairman of Cross London Trains which is procuring and leasing new rolling stock for the operator of the Thameslink franchise. In addition Andy is also a Non-Executive Director of Transport Systems Catapult which promotes and facilitates the development of new transport market technologies.

Phil White, Chairman, Porterbrook said “I am delighted to welcome Andy onto the Board and look forward to working with him; his wealth of experience will be an invaluable asset to us. Andy has been a key figure in the railway since privatisation in the 1990’s and his leadership experience of both franchise bids and operational delivery will provide significant advantage to the Management team and the Board. ”

Andy Pitt said “I am very pleased to be taking on the role of Non-Executive Director of Porterbrook. The company has a very important role to play in the UK rail industry and I look forward to working with the Chairman, Shareholders and Porterbrook Management to help take the business forward.”

Notes to Editors: Porterbrook Leasing Company Limited ("Porterbrook") is a leading player in the rail leasing market and has a rolling stock fleet of around 6,000 vehicles on lease or on order, which includes over 4,000 passenger vehicles. Porterbrook has been highly successful in winning new train orders since privatisation, investing in over 2,300 new passenger vehicles and more than 2,000 freight locomotives and wagons, and in the refurbishment of much of its in-fleet equipment. The company also provides ongoing train maintenance services. In October 2014 the Porterbrook Group of companies was acquired by a consortium of investors including Alberta Investment Management Corporation (“AIMCo”), Allianz Capital Partners (“ACP”) on behalf of certain insurance companies of the Allianz Group, EDF Invest and Hastings Funds Management.