New HS2 boss Roy Hill is MD of firm bidding for rail contracts
The new interim chief executive of the HS2 rail project works for a company that is bidding for millions of pounds of contracts on the line, it has been revealed.
Roy Hill, managing director of the US-headquartered engineering company CH2M, has been seconded to HS2 on a temporary basis from November after former chief executive Simon Kirby left for a top job at Rolls-Royce.
Mr Hill worked at HS2's offices in Canary Wharf for CH2M between 2012 and 2014 after the company won the role of development partner carrying out preparatory work, in a contract worth about £70m.
CH2M then led a consortium that this year won a £350m contract to provide engineering and project delivery for 10 years on the first phase of the high-speed line, from London to Birmingham. It has also been shortlisted as development partner on the project's second phase, in work due to be awarded next year.
Tony Berkeley, the Labour peer and a former engineer who worked on the Channel tunnel, said Mr Hill's secondment to HS2 was 'outrageous'.
"It is as if conflict of interest does not matter any more," he said.
"It is essential that HS2 management is seen to be independent of all contractors and consultants to comply with procurement rules and in order to avoid giving companies with which they have a relationship an advantage."
Joe Rukin, of campaign group Stop HS2, said: "The only reason HS2 was proposed in the first place was because of lobbying from vested interest groups who would make money out of it, and this appointment is proof that the government are happy for the construction industry to run their own gravy train."
A spokesman for HS2 said Mr Hill would be 'excluded' from any HS2 discussions, documents or decisions where these involve CH2M, to ensure that the integrity of HS2's procurement processes is not compromised".
CH2M declined to comment.
HS2 chairman Sir David Higgins said: "Roy's secondment from CH2M will allow HS2 to benefit from his broad experience overseeing some of the world's most complex infrastructure projects.
"He is uniquely qualified to fill this interim role, seeing HS2 through its upcoming milestones and into the start of construction next year."
Chris Grayling, transport secretary, confirmed this month that construction of HS2 would begin next year and promised to announce in November plans for the routes for the second phase, comprising two more lines, from Birmingham to Manchester and Birmingham to Leeds. It will pass through 45 miles of Staffordshire countryside.
The HS2 bill is expected to receive royal assent within months. The first phase from London to Birmingham is due to go into service in 2026, with the lines to Manchester and Leeds finished by 2033.