The appointment follows the recent announcement that the government has opened the bidding process for £11.8bn of NEC contracts for the London – Birmingham phase of the HS2 rail project. Most HS2 consultancy and construction contracts are being let under the NEC3 forms of contract.
West said: “I was honoured to be asked to chair the NEC Users’ Group. The NEC form of contract has been used successfully on many major and high-profile programmes, and I hope that my chairing of the Users’ Group will help the NEC continue to develop in a constructive way.”
Prior to her appointment as HS2 commercial director, West’s roles included being head of commercial for Thames Water’s Thames Tideway Tunnel project, head of commercial procurement at London Underground and principal in the corporate finance team at Transport for London.
One of her first responsibilities of her NEC role will be to address an audience of users at the body’s annual seminar, which is being held next month in London.
Rekha Thawrani, general manager for NEC, said: “With HS2’s adoption of NEC across its programme of works and Beth’s role leading in this internationally significant project, we are very privileged to have her on board as our chair.”
West succeeds current chairman Steve Rowsell, who will continue to be involved on NEC matters through his role on the NEC Board.
Details of the NEC Annual Seminar are at neccontract.com/seminar16 (link opens in new tab).
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