Christopher Garnett

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

is a member of the Board of the Olympic Delivery Authority, and was the Chief Executive Officer of

Great North Eastern Railway Great North Eastern Railway, often referred to as GNER, was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, owned by Sea Containers, that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, North ...

and simultaneously Senior Vice President and Chief Executive of the Rail Division of Sea Containers, GNER's parent company. Before this, Garnett was Regional Manager - Eastern Division for Sealink when it was a Sea Containers subsidiary, before becoming Commercial Director of

Eurotunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue on ...

. He later returned to Sea Containers to lead their successful bid to operate the

InterCity East Coast InterCity East Coast is a railway franchise for passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom from London King's Cross to Hull, Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen. It was fo ...

passenger rail franchise, which commenced as part of the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...

in April 1996. This seven-year contract was extended by two years in 2003, before GNER won a new contract in 2005. Garnett also presided over this deal, which saw GNER commit to paying the UK

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

GBP1.3 billion in premia - a record transaction for European railways. Beyond GNER, Garnett led Sea Containers' bids for other British passenger rail operations, including the South Western,

South Eastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

and

Greater Western franchise Greater Western is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services from London Paddington to the Cotswolds, West of England, South West England and South Wales. The current holder is Great Western Railway. History In 2003, as part of ...

s. Garnett left GNER towards the end of August 2006 amid growing concerns over Sea Containers' financial stability and, consequently, speculation over the future of GNER, with Sea Containers' largest shareholder Conner & Birdwell saying " ea Containerswill be liquidated and sold." (''see'' ''Rail Magazine'', 'Culture of fear' grips GNER, issue 546). This was alongside a High Court judgement rejecting GNER's application for a judicial review over Grand Central's access to the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

. However, his departure was apparently of his own volition, despite earlier speculation in ''Edinburgh Evening News'' that he would stand down. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Christopher’s late wife was Su, elder daughter of (the late) Lord and Lady Swann of Coln St Dennis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garnett, Christopher Year of birth missing (living people) British businesspeople Officers of the Order of the British Empire Living people 20th-century births