Northern has announced that Nush Price, a veteran of the banking sector, is to take the top spot as head of the rail provider’s legal department.

Price joins the company from the banking sector, where her most recent task involved overseeing the government’s rollout of COVID-19 loans to small and micro businesses across the UK.

As an administrator of the Bounce Back Loans scheme, she helped to facilitate the delivery of over £46 billion in government-backed loans to British companies, and was instrumental in keeping the UK economy active and relatively healthy throughout the series of lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

Now, Price has joined Northern at the helm of the rail provider’s legal department. She officially took up the position as of Monday, 18 December.

Northern has been attempting to modernise and update its practices in various areas across its operation, such as the installation of over a hundred new customer information screens at stations.

The rail provider has also been making more extensive use of GPS tracking technology to provide more accurate reports of leaf-fall hotspots that cause disruptions to train services during Autumn months.

Price’s brings with her a reputation for efficiency and reliability. At a time when many rail companies are facing increasing legal complexities surrounding industrial strike action and the provision of a Minimum Service Level, it’s expected that this new appointment will help Northern to navigate future challenges as they arise.

Price’s appointment follows the departure of Northern’s previous head of legal, Jenny Henderson, who has moved on to a position with the government’s Department for Transport OLR Holdings Limited (DOHL), which oversees LNER, Northern Trains Limited, TransPennine Trains and SE Trains (‘Southeastern’).

Speaking of Price’s appointment, Northern people director Lisa Leighton said:

“Nush is a great addition to our leadership team.

“She brings with her a wealth of experience working across the public and private sectors including travel and leisure and we’re thrilled she has joined the railway family.”

Price herself added:

“I am delighted to be joining the team at Northern and look forward to providing a valuable contribution at this exciting time for the rail industry.”