Filkin joins Jarvis board

Former British parliamentary watchdog Elizabeth Filkin was today appointed to the board of Jarvis, the firm at the centre of the Potters Bar rail crash inquiry.

The company announced that Ms Filkin, who held the role of parliamentary standards commissioner between 1999 and 2002, has become a non-executive director with immediate effect.

Ms Filkin, 62, becomes the second high-profile figure from the world of politics on the company’s board, joining Tory London mayoral candidate Steven Norris.

A former chief executive of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, she has also held key positions in the London Docklands Development Corporation, Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise.

She is currently non-executive chairman of materials group Stanelco and serves on a key committee of the City watchdog the Financial Services Authority.

Jarvis chairman Paris Moayedi said: “We have been looking for some time to increase the number of non-executive directors on our board and we are very pleased to to have obtained the services of such a strong and capable individual.”

Jarvis was responsible for maintaining the section of track where seven people died when a train derailed on a set of points.

An update on the progress of a Health and Safety Executive probe into the disaster in May highlighted the poor condition of points as the most likely underlying cause of the crash.

Jarvis has a stake in a number of Public Private Partnerships here in Ireland.