GBRf Management Team

John Smith
Managing Director

John Smith has led GB Railfreight from its creation in 1999, turning it into an award winning, multi-million pound business.

Under John’s leadership the company has established a reputation for reliability, for quality customer service and for innovation.

Prior to becoming managing director, John was deputy managing director of Anglia Railways. He has worked in the rail industry for over 25 years. An engineer, John’s background is in manufacturing and rolling stock maintenance. He has held senior positions at York, Longsight near Manchester, and at Bounds Green, Wembley and Willesden in London.

David Simons
Director of Finance

David Simons joined GB Railfreight in March 2001 and was appointed to the Board in August 2002 as finance director.

A career railway man, David has also held senior finance positions with English, Welsh and Scottish Railway and Red Star Parcels.

Kevin Walker
Operations Director

Kevin Walker started with GB Railfreight in 2000 as a train driver and was quickly given the role of team leader. Since 2001 he has held the positions of Operations and Safety Manager, Head of Production and General Manager for the Metronet contract. He was appointed to the GBRf Board in November 2006.

Neil Crossland
Commercial Director

Neil Crossland joined GB Railfreight in the summer of 2008 from UPS SCS UK Ltd, where he worked as Network Director for five years.
Prior to that Neil, who has a degree in economics, was Operations Director for Cenargo Rail. He also held a number of roles with EWS Railway, including general manager of intermodal and international traffic and manager of metals, with responsibility for business growth within the UK steel market.