Railway Division Annual Luncheon 2023

The Rt Hon Lord Patrick McLoughlin CH PC: Guest Speaker, Railway Division Annual Luncheon 2023

Patrick McLoughlin was the Member of Parliament for Derbyshire Dales 1986 - 2019.

Patrick was born in Cannock in Staffordshire on 30 November 1957. He  attended a Catholic comprehensive school, leaving at 16, and later spent some time at Rodbaston Agricultural College in Staffordshire.

His early employment included catering and working on a farm, before following his father and grandfather - both coal miners - and going to work underground at the Littleton Colliery in Cannock, Staffordshire. He became a member of the National Union of Mineworkers working through the 1983-4 miners’ strike, in the absence of a national ballot. Patrick was then an industrial representative for the National Coal Board's Western Area Marketing Department.

He has considerable experience in local and national politics.  Before becoming an MP, Patrick was a member of Cannock Chase District Council and of Staffordshire County Council.

Patrick became the Member of Parliament for West Derbyshire (now Derbyshire Dales) in a by-election in 1986. He held various ministerial posts at the Department of Transport, the Department of Employment and the Department of Trade and Industry.

In 1995, he moved to the Whips’ Office, becoming Opposition Chief Whip in 2005 and then Government Chief Whip in the Coalition government in 2010.

Patrick was Secretary of State for Transport 2012 – 2016; Chairman of the Conservative Party and Chancellor to the Duchy of Lancaster until 2018.

On leaving the front bench, he joined Parliament’s Restoration Board and was a Member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee.

On 22 June 2005, Patrick was appointed Patrick to the Privy Council.

In August 2016, he was knighted in David Cameron’s resignation honours list.

In September 2019, Patrick was made a Companion of Honour, in Theresa May’s resignation honours list.

In November 2019, Patrick decided not to seek re-election.

Since then, Patrick spent 18 months as Chair of Visit Britain, leaving to become Chair of Airlines UK and a board advisor to XRail and Chair of Transport for the North.

He joined the House of Lords in September 2020.

Noel Travers: IMechE Railway Division and Managing Director, Xrail Group

Noel joined British Rail in 1988 as a Management Trainee, and was sponsored whilst undertaking his Mechanical Engineering degree at Loughborough University. After graduating with a BEng in 1992, Noel completed his structured training and then held a number of depot-based engineering management jobs before eventually becoming T&RS Engineer (initially Assistant) for Freightliner following BR’s privatisation in 1995. During this period, Noel also completed an MSc in Rail Systems Engineering from Sheffield University.

In 2000, Noel entered the world of finance and banking with GATX Capital initially and then Royal Bank of Scotland, working in asset finance.

Noel returned to the railway in 2008 with Bombardier Transportation, initially as Sales Director, before becoming VP Project Management and eventually in 2014, Interim MD and Chairman of Bombardier UK.

In 2016, Noel joined Unipart Rail as MD, adding responsibility for Unipart Manufacturing in 2019. Noel joined Xrail Group as MD in 2021, and now also undertakes some part time management consultancy.