Robert Wright assesses Iain Coucher’s successes and failures, as he works out his


notice at Network Rail. What should the new, yet-to-be-appointed, chief executive be looking to change?


The rights and wrongs of Network Rail


W


Network Rail’s outgoing CEO Iain Coucher at Network Rail’s headquarters near King’s Cross


PAGE 14 SEPTEMBER 2010


hen Iain Coucher, Network Rail’s chief executive, announced his resignation in June, he cannot have been naïve enough to expect a chorus of regretful farewells. But he can scarcely have been prepared for the vehemence with which critics have


since been pursuing long-standing allegations of financial and other wrongdoing against some of the company’s most senior figures. Articles in Private Eye, the satirical magazine, have claimed


senior executives were secretly awarded extra bonuses and that Coucher and Victoria Pender, head of government and corporate affairs, received secret payments into the company they jointly owned. The allegations’ re-emergence is frustrating, partly because


there is so little evidence any is true. The allegation that Coucher and Pender were secretly paid extra amounts through their jointly- owned company is easily dismissed after an examination of the company’s accounts. They show no such payments. It is hard to find anyone in the rail industry able to back up the other claims made, which all involved on the Network Rail side deny. The most important point, however, is that Network Rail has


genuine, serious management problems to address as Coucher leaves. The Private Eye claims are proving a major distraction from addressing them. Since it took over the rail network in October 2002, Network


Rail has been worryingly dependent on the personal energy and commitment of a small group of people, led by Iain Coucher. For years, close observers have been expressing concern over the paucity of competent, well-trained managers outside board level. Anyone who has met Coucher in the last few years will have been aware of how focused he remained on the network’s operational nitty-gritty. He would surely have been better able to focus on the big, strategic issues if he had felt himself supported by a strong group of reliable middle-managers. Network Rail now needs to create a culture that will support


the development of that new regiment of self-confident, reliable leaders. Because it is only starting on the process now,


Simon Weir


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