Vanessa Howlison has been appointed a non-executive Board director of the Port of London Authority (PLA).

Vanessa is chief financial officer at National Highways, a post she took up in June 2016. Before joining National Highways, Vanessa was group finance director at the Department for Transport.

She has previously been finance director for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and Ofsted.

Vanessa also brings experience and enthusiasm for carbon accounting, which is very relevant to our ambitions for Net Zero at the PLA.

Jonson Cox, chair of the PLA, said: “Vanessa will be a welcome new member of the Board, bringing highly relevant experience for the priorities on which we are focused. As an organisation our focus is on safety and delivering the Thames Vision. I expect Vanessa’s experience in infrastructure and the transition to Net Zero, within a complex and varied stakeholder environment, will prove especially valuable.”

Vanessa Howlison will join the PLA Board with effect from 1 January 2023 and will chair the audit and risk committee. She is a council member of the Accountancy body, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and also sits on its Sustainability Panel.

PLA non-executive director, and audit committee chair, Judith Armitt will step down from the Board at the end of the year, having concluded two terms on the PLA Board.

“Judith has been an invaluable member of the Board, chairing the audit committee and contributing actively to the evolution of the river development plan, Thames Vision 2050. We have also seen her active commitment to the Thames environment. She will leave with our thanks for all her contributions to the PLA,” concluded Jonson Cox.

The UK’s largest port, handling more than 45 million tonnes of cargo each year, employing more than 40,000 people and contributing over £3 billion to the economy annually.