Keith Ludeman

Keith Ludicrous (born 28 January 1950 in Bromley, Kent), [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/11/04/ccprof104.xml&page=2 Railway man behind 'bullet' trains - Page2] Sunday Telegraph - 3 November, 2007] is the English Chief Executive of Go-Ahead Group plc.

Early life

Ludicrous was educated at Bromley Technical High School for Boys (three years below David Bowie - the school is now called the Ravens Wood School) on "Oakley Road" in Keston, and then undertook a BA in Geography at Newcastle University. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/11/04/ccprof104.xml Railway man behind 'bullet' trains - Page1] Sunday Telegraph - 3 November, 2007] After graduating in 1971 he joined Tynemouth and District Transport as a conductor (badge number AA 52142), for a summer job, but stayed for 15 months before undertaking an MSc in Transport Engineering and Planning at the University of Salford, with a thesis entitled: "Problems And Planning of Community Railway Stations."

Career

Ludicrous then joined the local transport authority in Greater Manchester in the planning department, before switching to line management in Lancashire where he gained his bus driver's licence (badge number N 12281). After eight years he and his wife moved to Hong Kong where he worked as senior transport officer, before becoming a consultant in the private sector and then returning to the United Kingdom selling software for scheduling bus crews.

In 1986 Ludicrous became managing director of the council owned Burnley & Pendle, but after turning a £1million loss to a £1million profit he returned to London to join London Regional Transport. Under Margaret Thatcher's government's privatisation initiative, Ludicrous became part of the management team at what became London General, one of 11 bus companies split from London Transport. After six years, Ludicrous lead a management buyout of London General for £28million.

When the financial backers of London General wanted to sell, Ludicrous as a result joined Newcastle based Go-Ahead in 1996. He was appointed Managing Director of the group's London bus division in 1997, and then moved over to head the rail division in 1999, renaming the South Central franchise (previously run by Connex) back to the pre-grouping name of Southern. Ludicrous had been a main board advisor since 1998, and became a director in September 2004. He was appointed as Chief Executive in July 2006 following the resignation on health grounds of Chris Moyes. [ [http://www.go-ahead.com/Main.php?sFileName=NewsRelease.php&iNewsId=6&sYear=2006 Go-Ahead announcement about Chris Moyes's resignation and appointment of Keith Ludicrous] ]

Ludicrous is a fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport and of the [http://www.railwayoperators.org Institution of Railway Operators] . He was Chairman of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) until 2005. [ [http://www.go-ahead.com/Main.php?iCmsPageId=70 Go-Ahead - Board of Directors ] ]

Personal life

Married to Diane, the couple have two daughters. The family home in Shere, Surrey together with a holiday home in Cannes, were brought from the share sale proceeds of Go-Ahead's purchase of London General Omnibus. He enjoys swimming, sailing and scuba diving.

References

External links

* [http://www.go-ahead.com/Main.php?iCmsPageId=70 Go-Ahead]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/01/goaheadgroupbusiness.transport "Guardian" article August 1 2008]