Michelle Handforth
Biography
Michelle brings over 25 years of board experience in the Maritime, Aviation, Rail and Financial Services sectors, both nationally and internationally. She is currently the regional managing director of Wales and Western-Network Rail, leading a team of over 5000 employees, a significant portfolio of infrastructure projects, engineering, construction, operations, and managed station services. Before joining Network Rail, Michelle was chief executive officer for the Port of Aberdeen, the UK’s oldest business and eighth largest energy port in the world.
An experienced business leader, Michelle has worked internationally in the USA, Canada, India, and Australia, having spent her early career in the airline and tour operating industries. She has extensive experience in transport logistics, infrastructure development, customer service, safety-critical operations, marketing, sales, emergency response, business continuity planning and, more recently, green energy and energy transition infrastructure projects.
Previous roles include global customer operations director at TUI, commercial director of Great North Eastern Railways (Sea Containers), retail director of Aviva Life, deputy CEO of Sydney Ferries Australia, and managing director of Babcock offshore helicopters. She has also held several non-executive Board positions throughout her career, including opportunity North-East, Scottish Council for Development and Industry and the Economic Development Board New South Wales Sydney, Australia.
She has a BA (hons) law degree and is a qualified barrister.