Sarah Berman

Experience

• 

  Christ's College, Canterbury

  Jul 2006 - Jul 2007

  Mathematics Tutor
• 

  ABRSM

  Oct 2007 - Sept 2009

  International Tours Coordinator

  Coordinated ABRSM grade music exams in c.15 countries around the world, in liaison with local representatives. I was responsible for scheduling examiner tours, processing entries and results, answering queries from representatives and customers, monitoring and reporting financial performance by country/region, and developing new markets. I oversaw a huge increase in entries in India and the Middle East, and managed the re-entry of ABRSM to Saudi Arabia in 2009.

• 

  Steer

  Sept 2009 - Oct 2017

  Steer (formerly Steer Davies Gleave) is a leading independent transport consultancy, working with public and private clients across the transport industry worldwide. In my eight years with the firm, I supported transactions, contract change and investment in the rail and aviation sectors.I specialised in developing forecasts of revenue, operating costs and financial statements to support transactions and decision-making, both in the UK and overseas. I am an experienced project manager and, while at Steer, worked for clients including the UK Department for Transport, rail franchise bidders, Metrolinx (Toronto public transit agency), BAA and airport investors.Specific projects included:- Commercial proposition analysis and advice in specification of the South Western Franchise for the Department for Transport, and leading the advisor team in the financial evaluation. This culminated in the award of the £2.6bn contract to FirstMTR in March 2017.- Rail franchise financial policy and contract change advice to the Department for Transport.- Comparator financial model development for three rail franchises.- Leading economic case analysis supporting the 2014 procurement of new trains for the South Western Franchise.- Business modelling to support aviation transactions, including consideration of complex regulatory frameworks and relationships between different aspects of the forecast. Included development of the vendor due diligence forecasts for the sale of Stansted (2012-13), support to successful bidder for Sendai airport in Japan (2014-15) and leading the modelling for a bidder for Lyon and Nice (2016).- Support to commercial and financial forecasting aspects of three rail franchise bids (2011-2013).- Technical leadership of two airport-rail link demand forecasting commissions in Canada.- Development of cost forecasts and an operating cost model for Amtrak to support its long-term business plan and investment decisions. Show less

  • Associate

    Jul 2017 - Oct 2017

  • Assistant Consultant to Principal Consultant

    Sept 2009 - Jun 2017
• 

  EY

  Jan 2018 - now

  I lead EY’s commercial and financial advisory in public transport operations and maintenance franchising in Australia and New Zealand, while also supporting clients to develop and procure major capital projects. In addition, I oversee financial modelling innovation and skill development across the Oceania Infrastructure Advisory team.My specific projects include:- Co-leading the commercial and financial advisor team supporting the Victorian Government in the MR5 Project to design and procure the next operating and maintenance franchises for Melbourne’s metropolitan trams and trains.- Leading the financial modelling and payment mechanism and performance regime development for the Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport PPP, having previously managed the extensive financial and commercial advice to support the project’s business case.- Commercial and financial advice to ferry operations, maintenance and fleet procurement in Auckland, Sydney and Brisbane.- Leadership of the commercial and financial aspects of the final business cases for two stages of the NSW Government’s More Trains, More Services rail upgrade program. Show less

  • Director, Infrastructure Advisory

    Jul 2023 - now

  • Associate Director, Infrastucture Advisory

    Jan 2018 - Jul 2023