A brief history

Established in 1997 by John Nelson, First Class Partnerships steadily built its consulting caseload and reputation throughout the UK Rail Industry before, in 2000, Mike Tham, Tony Roche and Mike Jones joined the company as Directors.

By early 2001 the company had reached a size that required more formal structures and practices to assure quality and encourage growth. Richard George joined from First Group as a Director and shareholder to put these in place.

In spring 2002 Pete Wilkinson was recruited as Managing Director and, as a result of being asked for professional advice on railway technical and engineering matters, Bob Clarke, previously the CEO of Jarvis Rail, joined the company as a Director and shareholder in summer of that year.

In 2004  we expanded further with the appointment of William Barter as Head of the our Operations’ Practice.

In 2005 John Self OBE joined the company as an Associate Director, Metro Operations, then with demands for commercial and analytical capabilities increasing.  Lisa Mota Pinto joined us from Serco Group as lead commercial adviser in 2006.

In 2008 FCP welcomed three new directors into its board: Mark Causebrook, Michael Schabas and Neil Atkins. Mark Causebrook brought to FCP 30 years of transport management experience gained from leading some of the largest TOCs in the country. Michael Schabas, a founder of GB Railfreight and GB Railways, a vehicle created at the time of UK rail privatisation to bid for franchises. Michael is also an expert in financing new rail ventures. Later in the year Neil Atkins joined us a FCP’s Business Development Director bringing over twenty years of commercial experience gained in numerous parts of the UK passenger rail sector".