Sir David Hartmann Higgins (born 1954) is an Australian-British

businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

, the Chairman of United Utilities Group (since 1 January 2020),

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...

(since 1 January 2017), and the former Non-Executive Chairman of High Speed Two (HS2) (March 2014 to July 2018). He was

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Delivery Authority and

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

Career

Higgins was educated at

Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys located in Riverview, New South Wales, Riverview, a small suburb on the Lane Cove Rive ...

, then gained a degree in

Civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, residing at St John's College; and a diploma at the Securities Institute of Australia. After graduation, he worked in the United Kingdom and Africa, before returning to Australia in 1983, and joining

Lendlease Lendlease is an Australian multinational construction and real estate company, headquartered in Barangaroo, Sydney, New South Wales. History Founding The company was established as Lendlease by Dick Dusseldorp in 1958 to provide finance fo ...

in 1985. In 1995 he was appointed managing director and chief executive, when Lendlease's developments included the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council. It i ...

, and the

Bluewater Shopping Centre Bluewater Shopping Centre (commonly known simply as ''Bluewater'') is a large out-of-town shopping centre in Stone, Kent, Stone (postally Greenhithe, Kent, Greenhithe), Kent, England, just outside the M25 motorway ring, east south east of London ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England. From March 2003, Higgins was Chief Executive of

English Partnerships English Partnerships (EP) was the national urban renewal, regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agency, regional development agencies on a regions of England, region ...

. Higgins was appointed Chief Executive Designate of the

Olympic Delivery Authority The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) was a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, responsible for ensuring the delivery of venues, infrastructure and legacy for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games ...

from December 2005, and appointed Chief Executive with effect from 30 March 2006. In this role he was paid £394,999 a year, making him the highest paid Quango boss in the UK. On 28 September 2010, it was announced that he was leaving the Olympic Delivery Authority to take up the role of chief executive of

, taking over from outgoing chief executive

Iain Coucher Iain Michael Coucher (born 22 August 1961) is the chairman of Ofwat, and was formerly the chief executive of the Atomic Weapons Establishment. He has worked as a consultant in the railway industry and held a number of management posts, most ...

, and with effect from February 2011. Higgins was widely respected for his work at Network Rail, including by the railway trade unions; he was succeeded as chief executive by

Mark Carne Mark Carne is a Scottish businessman who served as executive vice-president for Shell in the Middle East and North Africa and was chief executive of Network Rail. Early life and education Carne was born in Helensburgh, Scotland. He holds a B ...

in April 2014. In 2014, Higgins took over as

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a high-speed railway which has been under construction in England since 2019. The line's planned route is between Handsacre – in southern Staffordshire – and London, with a branch to Birmingham. HS2 is to be Britain ...

Ltd from Douglas Oakervee. At HS2, he successfully oversaw the introduction and subsequent passing of the 400-page London-Birmingham High Speed Rail

hybrid bill In the United Kingdom a hybrid bill (which becomes a hybrid instrument or hybrid act) is a government measure which affects a particular individual or organisation in a different manner to other individuals or companies in the same class; it thus ...

enabling the compulsory purchase and land acquisition for securing the chosen alignment. As of 2015, Higgins was paid a salary of between £240,000 and £244,999 by the department, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. Higgins stood down from HS2 in 2018. In 2017, Higgins took over from

Roy McNulty Sir Robert William Roy McNulty, CBE (born 7 November 1937) is a Northern Irish-born businessman. The son of Jack and Nancy McNulty, he was educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh and Trinity College Dublin. McNulty was ...

as chairman of

Limited. In 2020, he succeeded Dr John McAdam as chairman of United Utilities Group and also stood down from his role as a non-executive director at the

Commonwealth Bank of Australia The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

, a role he had held since September 2014.

Personal life

Higgins is married with two children. His hobbies include

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

and outdoor pursuits.

Miscellanea

He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

2011 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2011 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,British Construction Industry Awards The British Construction Industry Awards (BCI Awards or BCIA) were launched by ''New Civil Engineer'' magazine and Thomas Telford Ltd in 1998, at the time both owned by the Institution of Civil Engineers. The awards seek to recognise outstanding ...

judging panel which celebrated its 25th anniversary of rewarding excellence in UK construction delivery.

References

External links

Biography
at the ODA Senior Team {{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, David 1954 births Living people Businesspeople from Brisbane High Speed 2 University of Sydney alumni Engineers from Brisbane Australian chief executives British rail transport chief executives Australian Knights Bachelor People educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview Date of birth missing (living people) Lendlease