HS2

French high-speed expert made HS2 lead in Align JV

One of the men behind the major high-speed line currently being built in southern France, Jérôme Furgé, has been appointed director of Align, a joint venture bidding to win HS2 enabling contracts worth £900m.

Furgé joins Align – a consortium between Bouygues Travaux Publics (TP), Sir Robert McAlpine, Morrison Utility Services and VolkerFitzpatrick – with 21 years of experience in major transport infrastructure, including road, rail and tunnels.

He boasts a “highly commendable range of skills” across leadership and project management from his years at Bouygues TP and played an instrumental role in setting up and running several joint ventures for the company.

For the last five years, Furgé was the engineering department director at Bouygues TP, where he was responsible for managing and developing solutions for cost-effective tenders in major transport and energy projects.

But his experience stretches beyond just France, with collaborative projects across Ireland, Egypt, Hungary, Hong Kong and Singapore.

On his permanent move to the UK to join the HS2 team, he said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring the world’s most up-to-date high-speed rail technology and project methodology to the UK.

“At Align, we are hopeful we can share our world-class best practice with HS2, and help the government leave a long-lasting, reliable and resilient legacy to the British people, for many generations.”

He will be working from the London-based Align offices and “firmly intends” to engage with the UK supply chain in their bid to lead civils works.

Along with his Align colleagues, Furgé will be attending the HS2 Buyers’ Day CECA event in Birmingham early next month, where representatives from the seven companies in the race to win the three packages of HS2 contracts will meet with potential subcontractors and suppliers.

It is expected that Peter Anderson, Balfour Beatty’s new HS2 leader in its joint venture with Vinci, will also attend, along with other representatives from the five other shortlisted consortia.