A FORMER head of the Scottish Rugby Union is to be put in charge of Edinburgh's troubled tram scheme, it emerged yesterday.
David Mackay, who had a turbulent spell at the head of the national rugby body before being sacked, has been charged with getting the £512 million project back on track after a disastrous few months.
Best known in business circles for transforming
the fortunes of John Menzies during a long spell there, during which he rose to chief executive, Mr Mackay is expected to remain at the helm of the project for at least the next six months.
Councillors will be asked to formally approve his appointment as temporary head of the capital's trams company tomorrow on the recommendation of the council's chief executive, Tom Aitchison.
Mr Mackay, who has been on the board of the capital's main bus company for the past three years, is to temporarily succeed Willie Gallagher as chairman of the city council's transport firm TIE following the latter's resignation last week.
Mr Mackay is said to be "well up to speed" on the project after holding the role of chairman of Transport Edinburgh Ltd, the new company set up to oversee the integration of trams and buses since February 2006.
The council has yet to announce plans to hire a permanent successor to Mr Gallagher, who quit last week following mounting criticism of the disruption caused by construction work on the trams scheme.
His resignation came just weeks after it emerged that Neil Renilson, the head of Lothian Buses and the official charged with integrating trams and buses, was taking early retirement in December.
Mr Mackay said in a statement: "We are very fortunate that Willie has established a high-calibre team who work to stringent standards and many of whom have been engaged on other tram schemes and major construction projects.
"I'm very much looking forward to working more closely with this first-class team to ensure that we deliver, for the capital, a state-of-the-art tram system, which will be the envy of other leading cities."
In a report for the council, Mr Aitchison described the tram project as being at a "critical" construction stage.
He added: "It is, therefore, essential that governance and management arrangements are put in place immediately to ensure the minimum disruption to TIE's capacity, following Willie Gallagher's resignation."
Mr Mackay stepped down as chief executive of John Menzies in May 2003 after 39 years with the Edinburgh-based firm and was appointed chairman of the SRU just weeks later.
He was credited with slashing losses at the rugby body, but also controversially suggested selling Murrayfield in a bid to help pay off some of the SRU's debts.
However, he was ousted in January 2005 after an internal power struggle. Mr Mackay had overseen the appointment of Phil Anderton – the marketing guru remembered for spectacular pyrotechnics displays before major Murrayfield fixtures – but both were dramatically ousted.
The St Andrews-born businessman, 65, started his career with bus company Alexander's. He was officially retired when he was asked to join the boards of TEL and Lothian Buses.
The full article contains 533 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
