HCT people
Introducing the HCT Group senior team, based at our Old Street head office.
Dai Powell OBE, Chief Executive
Dai Powell is the Chief Executive of HCT Group, a large-scale, award-winning social enterprise in the transport industry, operating transport and training services from twelve depots across London, Yorkshire, Humberside, the southwest and the Channel Islands. Dai has been Chief Executive since 1993, leading the organisation as it has grown by more than a hundredfold – from a small community transport provider into an award-winning national social enterprise.
In November 2012, Dai won Social Enterprise Leader of the Year at the SEUK awards. He is a board member of Big Society Capital, is the Chair of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), the outgoing Chair of the Community Transport Association (UK) and a Social Enterprise UK board member. Dai was awarded an OBE in 2006 for services to disabled people.
Jude Winter, Deputy Chief Executive
Jude is Deputy Chief Executive of HCT Group and has served in this capacity since 1995. Her role is to grow the organisation in a rapid and sustainable way, including acquisitions and mergers for the Group. She chairs our regional committees to ensure our social impact services remain accountable to local communities. Widely respected in the transport industry, Jude currently serves on a number of transport committees, including the Department for Transport’s working party on independent travel training.
Jude is currently leading a partnership with two local authorities on a pilot to transform day centre transport block contracts into a personalised service, able to respond to Direct Payments and user choice
Douglas Downie, Chief Finance Officer
Douglas brings over 30 years of finance experience to the Group, the past 20 of which have been in the transport industry. He joined us from FirstGroup, where he served as Finance Director of the UK Bus division, which had a turnover of £1.1bn and a profit of £150m. Whilst at FirstGroup, he was responsible for delivering reliable financial systems, reporting and controls, helping to create real improvements in the financial performance of the business.
Prior to his time at FirstGroup, Douglas was the Finance Director of the Freightliner Group for nearly 10 years, which had a turnover of £120m and a profit of £20m. He worked as a key part of the management team that took Freightliner into the private sector, to become one of the outstanding successes of rail privatisation.
Jon McColl, Chief Operations Officer
Jon is the Chief Operations Officer of HCT Group, serving in this role since 2000. He is responsible for the operational success of road passenger transport operations. Over the past nine years he has contributed to the development of our operation, balancing rapid growth with consistently improving quality, performance and profitability. Jon brings over 30 years of experience in the passenger transport industry to the task of managing all stages of the commercial contracts process.
Before starting with HCT Group, Jon was a founder member, director, company secretary and transport manager of a bus and coach operator in Essex that was constituted as a workers’ cooperative. Outside work, Jon has just completed a five-year term as chair of Co-operative and Community Finance (CCF). CCF is a profitable and sustainable Community Development Finance Institution that makes commercial loans to the co-operative and social enterprise sector.
Frank Villeneuve-Smith, Communications Director
Frank is HCT Group’s Communications Director. His role is to develop the organisation’s ability to tell its story, communicating to the widest possible set of stakeholders. His is the author of ‘Innovation in transport procurement: Seven big ideas to beat the public spending crunch’.
Frank has 15 years experience in business management, marketing and public relations in both the commercial and social enterprise sectors. He holds an MBA with distinction from the renowned full time programme at Warwick Business School and post-graduate diplomas in both public relations and marketing. He joined HCT Group from the Learning and Skills Network, an education charity, where he led the communications function for four years.
Patrick Reyburn, Strategic Development Manager
Patrick Reyburn is the Strategic Development Manager of HCT Group. He has been with the organisation since 2009. His responsibilities include overseeing business development, improvement and also IT. He has worked on improving both the quantity and quality of the business development bids in order to give HCT the best chance of growth in a competitive sector. In overseeing business improvement and IT, he has rolled out numerous systems which have helped streamline work flows and increase productivity. In his spare time, Patrick has also worked to improve our supply chain. For example, by sourcing Fairtrade products in our depots, using recycled paper in our printers, and consolidating our phone services to a co-operative.
Patrick’s background is in both the private and third sector. After several years of in management in the private sector, he sought a degree from the LSE in NGO’s and Development. Combining both of these skill sets he found a natural home at HCT Group and their entrepreneurial approach to creating social change. When not working, he is the chair of his local Fairtrade Group and volunteers within the community elsewhere.
