UK Infrastructure Bank welcomes the appointment of its new non-executive directors

The UK Infrastructure Bank welcomes the appointment of its new non-executive directors

Date: 9 June 2022

Ahead of the UK Infrastructure Bank’s one-year anniversary later this month, HM Treasury has today announced that the Chancellor has made four new appointments to the UKIB Board. The new non-executive directors collectively bring a wealth of experience in infrastructure finance, policy making, economics and green investments, across both the public and private sector.

The Bank welcomes the following new members to its Board:

  • Bridget Rosewell CBE
  • Tania Songini
  • Nigel Topping
  • Marianne Økland

The Chancellor has appointed Ms Rosewell as Chair of UKIB’s Audit and Risk Committee for a term of four years, alongside Ms Songini who has agreed to act as interim Renumeration Committee Chair for a year after which she will be a non-executive director for the remaining three years of her term. He has also appointed Ms Økland and Mr Topping as non-executive directors for a term of three years, with all the appointments taking effect from 9 June 2022.

Commenting on the new appointments, Chris Grigg CBE, Chair of the UK Infrastructure Bank said:

“The appointment of this exceptional group of non-executive directors is a real milestone for the Bank, as we approach our one-year anniversary and prepare to publish our strategy in the coming weeks. I am very pleased we’ve secured such a diverse and globally experienced team, who will help us build on the great start we’ve made to deliver against our mission and support a culture of innovation, learning and excellence as we grow.”

John Flint, CEO of the UK Infrastructure Bank said:

“Bridget, Tania, Nigel and Marianne are each outstanding individuals whose experience will help guide the direction of the Bank as it matures as an institution. I look forward to working with them.

“Our new board members’ expertise and commitment to our mission will be vital over the coming months as we publish our strategic plan and build our permanent team.”

Bridget Rosewell CBE, MA, MPhil, FICE, FACSS, FSPE

ARC Chair and Board member

Bridget Rosewell is an experienced director, policy maker and economist, with a track record in advising public and private sector clients on key strategic issues. She chairs Atom Bank and the M6 Toll Company and is a non-executive for Northumbrian Water Group. Among other roles, she has chaired DVSA, been Senior Independent Director for Network Rail and Chief Economic Adviser to the Greater London Authority.

She was appointed CBE in December 2018 and is also a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Academy of Social Science and the Society of Professional Economists. She writes on finance, risk and uncertainty as well as infrastructure and modelling validation.

She has worked extensively on cities, infrastructure and finance, advising on projects in road and rail and on major property developments and regeneration. She has advised on changes to planning regulation and TfL’s finances and has appeared at planning Inquiries.

Tania Songini

Interim RemCo Chair and Board member

Over the last six years Tania Songini has built a portfolio of non-executive director roles including companies such as The Private Infrastructure Development Group (a development finance fund for infrastructure projects in Africa and Asia), Thrive Renewables, Guernsey Electricity and the Energy Systems Catapult. Prior to 2015 Tania worked for the leading global engineering and technology services company Siemens for 18 years in their logistics, healthcare and energy businesses, where she held a number of finance director roles, including more recently Siemens’ energy business in the UK and NW Europe.

Her energy experience is predominantly around renewable power generation and decentralised energy systems. Tania is the Chair of ViaNinos UK, a charity supporting street children in Ecuador.

Nigel Topping

Board member

Nigel Topping brings a unique mix of experience in running manufacturing businesses in UK regions and working on the industrial transformation to the zero-carbon economy. He spent the first half of his career in automotive component manufacturing, including running businesses in Manchester and Hartlepool, and then as part of the MBO team which took TMD Friction private and turned it into the biggest manufacturer of brake pads in the world. Since 2006 Nigel has been working on how to use the power of business to accelerate the zero-carbon transition, working at CDP, leading the We Mean Business Coalition, launching the Science Based Targets Initiative and most recently appointed by the Prime Minister as the High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26 where he launched the Race To Zero and the 2030 Climate Breakthroughs. In April 2021 Nigel launched the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero with Mark Carney.

Marianne Økland

Board member

Marianne Økland currently serves on the Board of Directors of Scorpio Tankers Inc and as an independent director on the Professional Welsh Rugby Board responsible for the Welsh national teams and professional regional teams. Previously she held various board positions including chairing a number of board committees at IDFC Limited, (Infrastructure Development Finance Company) IDFC Alternatives (India), Islandsbanki (Iceland), the National Bank of Greece, NLB (Slovenia) as well as Hermitage Offshore. Her executive career was spent at JP Morgan and UBS structuring and raising debt capital for some of the most significant mergers and acquisitions in the Nordic area. She also headed the European operations of Marsoft advising banks and large shipping, oil and raw material companies on shipping strategies and investments. Ms. Økland is a Norwegian national holding a M.Sc. degree in Finance and Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration where she also worked as a researcher and taught mathematics and statistics.

 

 

Further information

  • The UK Infrastructure Bank was announced as part of the Government’s National Infrastructure Strategy in 2020 and launched in June 2021. The Bank’s objectives are to help tackle climate change and to support regional and local economic growth. In January 2022 it published a discussion paper which set out early thinking as the Bank develops its Strategic Plan, to be published later in June 2022. More detail is available in the Policy Design Document and Framework Document published by Treasury; both of which are on our website.
  • The Bank is operationally independent from Government. Projects are assessed by the Bank and approved through an Investment Committee.
  • For further information on the appointment process please refer to HM Treasury’s release