The board of Bluebell Railway Plc has appointed Nigel Page as the company’s first IT director.
Nigel is an experienced senior IT leader across all technologies, delivering strategic business and IT outcomes for multi-national customers. He is currently a senior manager with Amazon Web Services.
He said: “I am very excited about taking on this role with a long tenure in the IT Industry. This is my first non-executive director role and I bring my technology experience and expertise in both the IT processing and business side.
“I ultimately want to create a vision of how the Bluebell uses technology while retaining its heritage over the next five years.”
Nigel also said he wanted to “develop the use of data and information to attract new visitors and look for ways to enhance the visitor experience as well as for members and employees.”
He lives in Highbrook with his wife Lisa. They have three grown-up children.
Nigel regularly passes alongside and around Horsted Keynes station when he takes Hallie, his 10-year-old Sprocker Spaniel, for walks.
Hel was the chairman of Cuckfield Parish Council for nine years and says he learned the power and importance of communities. “The Bluebell Railway has a place in that community and is at the heart of Mid Sussex tourism,” he said.
His first visit to the Bluebell Railway was on a school trip in 1975 and he remembers visiting Horsted Keynes station which sparked an interest in electrical engineering and this led into IT. Nigel has been a member of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society since returning from overseas several years ago.
Geoff Mee, chairman of Bluebell Railway Plc, said: “We are delighted Nigel is joining us and look forward to working with him on improving all aspects of the Railway’s IT and digital systems. How we communicate with our staff, volunteers, customers and the wider world will be crucial to our success as a company in the next few years.
“We will always retain our status as a heritage railway but we also have to make sure our systems keep up with modern technology.”
Nigel’s appointment was confirmed at the Bluebell Railway board meeting in November.
