| Executive Board | |
| Anton Valk - Non-Executive Chairman Abellio UK | |
 | As from 1st January 2012, Anton Valk stood down as Abellio’s Chief Executive after leading the Group for more than a decade. Anton has handed over the reigns to Jeff Hoogesteger and has taken on the position of Non-Executive Chairman UK, a role which will see him play a prominent part in cementing Abellio’s relationships with clients and stakeholders in the UK. Anton’s involvement with Abellio began in 2001 when he set up the business from scratch as the international subsidiary of Netherlands Railways. He was assisted by a handful of staff who shared his vision of creating a profitable international public transport business as European markets opened to competition. Over the next eleven years, Anton was at the forefront of establishing Abellio’s position as a long term operator in the UK and expanding the business, most recently through winning the Greater Anglia franchise. In 2012, the year of the London Olympics, more than one million passengers will travel every day on train and bus services operated by Abellio’s 11,000 UK staff. In addition Abellio has built a presence in Germany, the Czech Republic and Scandinavia. Anton’s leadership has been based on his view that public transport is essentially a customer service business and that strong partnerships with clients and stakeholders, such as DfT, Transport for London and passenger transport executives, are a pre-requisite for bus and rail operations to achieve their full potential. These values have become key differentiating features of Abellio’s approach to business since winning its first contract in 2003. Delivery of service excellence on the ground is underpinned by Abellio’s industry-leading best practice exchange programme and a commitment to continuous improvement rooted in EFQM-based management systems. In establishing Abellio’s distinctive culture and management style, Anton has drawn on his previous experience of successfully developing and managing global and international subsidiaries of multinational corporations in the USA and in Europe, including Philips Electronics and KPN Telecom. |
