The Arch Company welcomes two new senior leaders: CEO Craig McWilliam and Asset Management Director John Robson

04/01/2022

The Arch Company today welcomed two new members to the senior leadership team: Craig McWilliam and John Robson.  

Craig McWilliam (pictured right) has become the Chief Executive Officer. He joins from spending a year as Programme Director of the NHS new hospitals programme and prior to that, Chief Executive of Grosvenor Britain & Ireland.  

John Robson (pictured left) was formerly Asset Management Director at Workspace Group. John has joined The Arch Company as Asset Management Director. 

Both will bring invaluable property experience to the business, with a focus on development, to progress the ambitious £200 million Project 1000  investment plan. This plan is a commitment to bring 1,000 empty or derelict arches into use for small businesses across England and Wales by 2030. 

Craig McWilliam said:  

“I’m thrilled to be appointed as The Arch Company’s CEO. I look forward to getting to know the staff and customers and I am keen to listen to customers to find out how we can improve our service. Good progress has been made in the past three years but there is still more to do.  

As well as looking after our existing customers, we hope to attract many new ones to the arch community. More than a quarter of the units that transferred from Network Rail in 2019 were empty or completely derelict. We have a £200m plan – Project 1000 – to bring a thousand of them into use by 2030, bringing jobs and economic activity to urban communities across the country.  

I’m excited about the prospect of many hundreds of new small businesses finding a home in railway arches in the months and years ahead.” 

John Robson said: 

“I’m pleased to have started my new role The Arch Company and look forward to working with the team to drive the business forward. I’m excited to be working with such an incredible network of small businesses and engaging with our customers across the portfolio in the coming months.” 

Current Managing Director Adam Dakin will become Chairman and Asset Director Graeme Hunter will remain involved in the business, transitioning to a shareholder role over the course of 2022.  

You can read more about the new senior leadership on Property Week