Christopher Garnett OBE is a retired British businessperson who served as a member of the Board of the

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for

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, and was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Great North Eastern Railway 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. He later returned to Sea Containers to lead their successful bid to operate the InterCity East Coast 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 Rail transport in Great Britain, railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely compl ...

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

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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 and Greater Western franchises. 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 its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

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

Honours

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

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for services to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Family

Garnett is the son of (William) John Garnett, CBE, the British industrial relations campaigner, the brother of former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician Virginia, Baroness Bottomley, the nephew of former Labour politician Peggy, Baroness Jay. Garnett's late wife was The Hon. Su Garnett née Swann, elder daughter of Michael, Baron Swann; she died on 23 April, 2022.

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 Bottomley family Jay–Garnett family