Richard Threlfall

He has almost 30 years’ experience in policy, governance, strategy and financing, advising both public and private sector clients in the UK and overseas.

Richard began his career as a civil servant at the UK Department for Transport where he held positions in the road, rail and aviation directorates. Between 1996 and 1998 he was Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Transport and the Deputy Prime Minister. He subsequently moved to the Infrastructure Advisory team at Citigroup before joining KPMG in the UK, where he led the UK Infrastructure, Building and Construction sector until 2018. From 2018 until 2021 he was KPMG International’s Global Head of Infrastructure. From 2020 to 2022 he was Global Head of KPMG IMPACT and launched the firm’s Global ESG Strategy.

Richard is motivated by the understanding that the world is facing both a climate and a social emergency. He is committed to doing everything he can to support public and private sector organizations to play their part in averting those disasters and support the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to enable sustainable quality of life for everyone, everywhere.

Richard has an extensive network of contacts across the infrastructure, transport, utility, and construction markets and the related political, financial and legal communities, in the UK and internationally. His clients include national and local infrastructure and transport authorities, private infrastructure owners and promoters of infrastructure schemes. He has advised on the governance and financing of some of the worlds’ most complex civil engineering projects.

He has a long-standing reputation for leading clients through complex and politically high-profile transactions and providing strategic, financial and governance advice.

Richard is Chair of the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure, and KPMG’s representative on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a member of the Infrastructure Board of the Confederation of British Industry. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He chairs the Advisory Council of The Infrastructure Forum, which is an independent think-tank which brings together organizations with involvement in UK infrastructure from public, private and regulatory perspectives. He is a prolific writer on infrastructure, transport, sustainability, and organizational purpose, and is quoted regularly in the media.