Michael has been the Head of Acquisitions at HS2 Ltd since June 2014, initially on secondment and permanently from October  2017.  He is responsible for the acquisition of land and rights necessary to construct, operate and maintain the railway across all phases of the route: Phase 1 – London to the West Midlands; Phase 2a – West Midlands to Crewe; and Phase 2B West - Crewe to Manchester.  Michael is also responsible for any acquisitions on the Phase 2b East - West Midlands to Leeds leg.

Overall the route is some 345 miles in length and will involve the acquisition of c.10,000  interests at cost of c.£7bn.  Michael is supported in his role with an Acquisition Team of c.60 people in-house, six external strategic suppliers (Carter Jonas, CBRE, Deloitte Real Estate, Lambert Smith Hampton, Montagu Evans and the Valuation Office Agency) and various sub-consultants in disciplines such as forensic accountancy, plant and machinery and rural surveying.  The Acquisition Team is one of five teams in HS2 Ltd Land and Property that has an overall headcount of c.190.

Prior to joining HS2 Ltd, Michael was a partner at Deloitte Real Estate where he advised on compulsory acquisition for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Crossrail amongst other schemes.  He also advised claimants such as Land Securities on 21 Moorgate and Targetfollow on Centre Point in Central London.  Michael started his career at GL Hearn and focussed on compulsory purchase in 1997 when he was instructed by Union Railways on the Chanel Tunnel Rail Link (latterly High Speed One) on which he advised continuously for nine years.

Michael appeared as an Expert Witness on the first Olympic case to be heard at the Lands Tribunal and has provided both written and oral evidence at Public Inquiries.  Currently, Michael and his team are acquiring the land and property needed to construct the railway for Phases 1 and 2a and settling compensation with affected parties.  On Phase 2b the Hybrid Bill was submitted to Parliament on 24th January 2022 and Michael and his team are continuing engagement with affected parties.