Will Whitehorn, a director of Stagecoach Group Plc and the chairman of Transport Systems Catapult, is to be the next UK president of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT).
Mr Whitehorn has been a vice-president of CILT for the past four years. He will take up the one-year presidency from Beverley Bell in May.
CILT chief executive Kevin Richardson said: ‘The appointment of Will Whitehorn as CILT president-elect brings expertise, innovation and a wealth of experience to our Institute. I look forward to working with him to grow our Institute when he takes up his appointment in May.’
Will Whitehorn
Mr Whitehorn learnt to fly at the age of 16 as an RAF cadet and then studied History and Economics at Aberdeen University.
He worked for British Airways as a helicopter crewman in the North Sea oil industry before becoming a graduate trainee with Thomas Cook.
He subsequently worked for 25 years for Virgin Group, working for Virgin Atlantic before spearheading Virgin’s move into rail.
He was a founding director of London and Continental Railways and went on to lead Virgin’s bid for the West Coast Mainline franchise. In 2004 he became president of Virgin Galactic, overseeing the construction of the world’s first commercial spaceship.
Mr Whitehorn said: ‘It is a great honour to have been appointed president of CILT in the UK. I am thrilled to represent the profession at such a momentous period of technological change that is currently sweeping through every aspect of our activities. We are on a rapid curve towards artificial intelligence and autonomous systems transforming the future of transport and logistics; this change will require an increasing emphasis on new skills and qualifications.’
