EDGOOSE:
In search of Ancestry
BALLINGER, Martin Stanley Andrew
1943 - 2007 (63 years) Has no ancestors and no descendants in this family tree.
1940 - LIVING-
Name BALLINGER, Martin Stanley Andrew Birth 19 Nov 1943 Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England 
Gender Male Death 27 Feb 2007 Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, England Person ID I479 Edgoose Last Modified 30 Jan 2026
Family EDGOOSE, Diana Susan, b. 1940, Surrey South Western Registration District d. LIVING Marriage 1968 Godalming, Surrey, England Family ID F14 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 27 Jan 2026
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Notes
MARTIN STANLEY ANDREW BALLINGER 1943-2007
Martin S, A. BALLINGER was born in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, on 19 November 1943.
(GRO December 1943 [MAY] Peterborough 3B 375)
His parents settled in South Shields when his father accepted a management post in engineering.
Martin was educated at St. Gregory's in South Shields and then at the Salesian School in Chertsey, Surrey, when his parents went abroad,
In 1968 Martin qualified as an accountant. In 1972 he joined the Northern General Bus Company, becoming manager ten years later. He steered the company through deregulation in 1986 and the management buy-out in 1987. The business was re-named Go-Ahead and obtained a Stock Exhange listing in 1994.
From 'WHO'S WHO 2003 (www.xreferplus.com/entry/2729018)
"BALLINGER, Martin Stanley Andrew (b. 19 Nov. 1943)
FCIT; Chief Executive (formerly Managing Director), Go-Ahead Group plc, since 1987
s of Cyril Herbert BALLINGER and Sylvia May BALLINGER; m 1968, Diana Susan EDGOOSE; one s one d, Educ: Salesians, Chertsey; University College, London. ACMA; FCIT 1991. Accountant, 1972-82, Gen. Manager 1982-87, National Bus Co. Recreations: golf, private pilot. Address: Bolam Hall (East), Morpeth NE 61 3UA. T:(0661) 881620. Clubs: Northerrn Counties (Newcastle upon Tyne) Aero; Stocksfield Golf."
MILLIONAIRE AT CENTRE OF PAY OUT
Under the title "Millionaire at centre of pay out" a succinct article critical of his management style appeared in London's Evening Standard on Friday 19th September 2003. Its author, Jonathan PRYNN, reported that Industry colleagues described Martin BALLINGER as a driven, rather dour man who cared little for personal popularity or fashionable opinion.
Perhaps it is unlikely that BALLINGER, accused of making a crass error of judgement when directors' pay rose and the dividend was increased in the year of the 1999 Paddington crash, would have recognised the connection.
There was perhaps another side to him, seen only by his brother-in-law on the rare occasions that they met in Northumberland or France.
[This paper appears to have ceased publication]
"THAMES TRAINS FINED £2m FOR PADDINGTON CRASH
Thames Trains was today fined £2m over the 1999 Paddington rail disaster, which
claimed the lives of 31 people and injured more than 400.
The penalty was imposed on the company, which admitted two health and safety
offences at a previous hearing, by a judge at the Old Bailey. Thames Trains was also
ordered to pay prosecution costs of £75,000.
Announcing the sentence, Judge Rodger Bell accepted it was "not a case of putting
profits before safety". He said, however, that Thames Trains should have been aware of
the risk and had made "serious omissions" in its driver training.
He was told earlier by the prosecution that the crash would have been avoided if the
driver of the Thames Train involved in the collision had been properly trained.
Inexperienced driver Michael Hodder, 31, went through a signal at danger at Ladbroke
Grove, just outside Paddington station in west London.
At 8.09am, his train, bound for Bedwyn in Wiltshire, crashed with a Paddington-bound
First Great Western express travelling from Cheltenham Spa in Gloucestershire.
Six passengers on the Great Western train as well as its driver Brian Cooper, 52, died in
the collision, while 24 people on the Thames Turbo train were killed.
Outside court, relatives of some of the dead passengers said they thought nthe fine had
been fair. Mrs Linda Dilieto, who lost her son Sam, said: "The money does not mean
anything to us. It's not about money. The judge summed up everything for us." Mr
Denman Groves, who lost his daughter Juliet, said: "I think it was a fair judgment."
Thames Trains chairman Martin Ballinger said: "As Lord Cullen's inquiry showed, this
accident was forseeable and preventable. Thames has consistently accepted and
admitted that although improvements to its training programmes were being
implemented they had not been completed at the time of the accident.
"The fine imposed on us today is calculated with reference to the scale of the tragedy
and the assessment of the extent to which Thames contributed to the exposure of
passengers to risk of injury.
"Thames recognises that the value of the fine is irrevelant to the grief and suffering of
the bereaved and injured. It does not relate in any way to the many tens of millions of
pounds paid out by insurers in compensation."
Mr. Ballinger added: "I share a sense of personal failure with many in the industry. No
words can adequately express the heartfelt anguish and sorrow felt throughout Thames
Trains for the devastating consequences."
Bob Crow, general secretary of the rail worker's union, the RMT, said: "No amount of
money can bring back those who lost their lives. This is a company that has received
huge amounts of money in subsidies from the public. In effect the public will be paying
this fine. We need a proper corporate manslaughter law so that bosses responsible for
causing unnecessary deaths are put behind bars where they belong,"
(https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/apr/05/transport.ladbrokegrove)
Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd
GO-AHEAD CHIEF'S DEFIANT FAREWELL
Go-Ahead Group's chief executive, Martin Ballinger, yesterday announced his
retirement with a defiant swipe at critics of the transport company's involvement in the
Ladbroke Grove train crash.
Mr. Ballinger, 60, is to stand down at the end of the year and will be be replaced by his deputy, Chris Moyes.
The change comes just eight weeks after a judge at the Old Bailey fined the company
£2m for "serious omissions" in driver training at its Thames Trains franchise which
contributed to the worst railway accident since privatisation, in which 31 people died.
Mr Ballinger insisted that, despite the verdict, he was leaving on a high, saying "Our
share price has never been higher and our stock in the rail and bus trade has never been
higher."
"The judge was very specific in saying that Go-Ahead had never put profits before safety
and that's one of the greatest accolades I have heard about this company.
"Right back at the beginning, the relatives [of victims] hired counsel who said that
Go-Ahead had put profits ahead of safety. Five years after the event, we've put that lie to
bed -it wasn't true."
Mr. Ballinger has been a senior director of Go-Ahead since its formation through a £3m
management buyout of Gateshead's Northern General bus company in 1987.
The group now has a market value of £630m, with bus companies in London, Brighton
and Oxford. It losts its Thames Trains franchise last year but still operates Thameslink
commuter services.
An inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove crash concluded that the head-on collision in 1999
was caused by Go-Ahead's Thames Train passing through a red light. Relatives were
fiercely critical of Mr. Ballinger for accepting a pay rise and a £30,000 bonus the
following year and for amassing a pension worth £1.6m.
Louise Christian, a solicitor acting for the bereaved and injured at Ladbroke Grove,
yesterday said: "A big factor in the awfullness of the crash was the fact that Thames
Trains' rolling stock was so flimsy.
"Mr. Ballinger received a huge bonus shortly after the crash. For him to make worthy
statements about how the company has never put a profit before safety rings rather
hollow."
A low-profile figure who has typically shunned interviews, Mr. Ballinger lives in a
Georgian mansion on the Northumbrian moors. He has a pilot's licence and flies his
own Piper Chieftain to London.
He dismissed criticism of his pension yesterday as "absolutely scurrilous", pointing out
that he had been with Go-Ahead and its predecessor companies since 1972. He said: "I
have contributing to the pension scheme for 32 years. Neither me nor anybody
else has received any special treatment."
(Andrew CLARK, transport correspondent. The Guardian, Thursday 27 May 2004 02.48 BST)
(https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/apr/05/transport.ladbrokegrove)
Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd
THE NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
10th August 2006
Chairman - with effect from 1st October 2006, Mr. Martin BALLINGER will succeed Sir Miles IRVING as Chairman of the Board of Directors and of the Members Council. Mr. BALLINGER is chairman of Northgate plc and former Chief Executive of GoAhead Group plc.
14th November 2006
Northgate plc Board Changes:
It is with deep regret that Northgate plc, the leading commercial vehicle hire company in the UK and Spain, announces that its Chairman, Mr. Martin BALLINGER has advised that he wishes to retire from the Board on the grounds of ill health with immediate effect.
Under Martin's Chairmanship Northgate has continued to grow strongly and his leadership and personal contribution will be greatly missed.
GO AHEAD chief executive Keith LUDEMAN has led the tributes to his predecessor, Martin BALLINGER. who died this week.
He joined Go Ahead's board in acknowledging the contrubution that BALLINGER made to the group as one of its founding fathers, and to the UK passenger transport industry. Ballinger remained Go Ahead's biggest shareholder at the time of his death.
Martin was the lead founder and embodiment of the ethos and strategy of the Go Ahead Group plc, which he headed from flotation in 1994 to his retirement in 2004," said LUDEMAN.
"Martin was highly respected throughout the group, and by industry professionals in the bus, rail and aviation sectors."
BALLINGER first joined the bus industry in 1972 within the National Bus Company's Central Activities Group. After a spell at Western National, he arrived at Newcastle-based Northern General in 1982. Five years later BALLINGER led the management buy-out team that bought the operation from NBC. That team also included Chris MOYES, who BALLINGER would work alongside for 25 years.
Seizing on the opportunities that were provided by the privatisation of the bus and rail industries, BALLINGER, MOYES, and their colleagues built Go Ahead Group, one of the UK's 'big five' passenger transport plc.
A keen pilot known for flying his own plane to meetings around the UK and in Europe, BALLINGER also took the group into the aviation sector, where it acquired ground handling operations.
BALLINGER retired from Go Ahead at the end of 2004, and was honoured at that year's Bus Industry Awards for his 'services to the bus industry'. He handed over the reins to MOYES, but illness forced his former colleague to step down last year, and he died in September. Keith LUDEMAN was appointed as his successor.
Although BALLINGER retired two years ago he continued to have an involvement with Go Ahead as its largest shareholder. He had an 8% stake in the group, which has a market capitalisation of £1.1bn.
After leaving Go Ahead, BALLINGER became chairman of van rental company Northgate plc and the Newcastle upon TyneHospital NHS Foundation Trust. However, he had been seriously ill for some months and passed away peacefully last week.
Paying tribute to his predecessor, LUDEMAN remarked: "Martin was often described by those who met him as a 'gentleman' - a rare quality in the 21st Century - but one that completely encapsulated the demeanor and character of the man."
On 15 April 2017 Alamy produced a 'Stock Photo - Martin Ballinger Paddington Rail Disaster, Royalty Free Image: 107518629 - Alamy' taken on 5 April 2004 and titled Martin Ballinger Paddington rail disaster. the description reads:
"Thames Trains Chairman Martin BALLINGER (left) with former Managing Director Terry Worrell delivers a statement outside the Old Bailey, after the company were fined 2 million on health and safety charges relating to the Paddington rail disaster."
It has not been placed online.
THE WEDLAKE SAINT AWARD 2004
Martin BALLINGER received the award for services to the bus industry in recognition of his achievement in establishing Go-Ahead as one of the UK's most successful and highly respected members of the UK's public transport sector.
MARTIN - MICHAEL
A letter to Martin from his brother-in-law dated 18 December 2006:
"I was stunned when Jane told me that you had cancer. I am sure that the diagnosis and the treatment must be very difficult to cope with. It seems such a short time ago that we were discussing Green Light Lasers and laughing and joking on our way laughing and joking on our way to and from that gorgeous young lady at the Probate Registry.
I have no doubt that Di is a tough old bird and that my shoulder is the last one in the world she would want to cry on but it is at times like this that family differences must be set aside. If ever she needs me for anything at all I am just a telephone call away. I really do mean it. The same applies to you of course. If ever I can be of use to you in any way at all please do not hesitate to ask. You have all my symphony."
A response from martin.ballinger@samson.aviation.com written on 22 December 2006:
"Michael
Thanks very much for your supportive letter. As it has all sunk in and I get myself psyched up for what is to come, the principal source of comfort I have is the huge outpouring of support from family friends and acquaintences. I truly am being born along without my feet touching the ground.
You are absolutely right to be concerned about Di. I think she is having a hard time coming to terms with this and while she buries herself in domestic work and maintaining her social life, I am very worried that she is papering over an awful lot of her worries and anxieties. I took the liberty of letting her see your 'tough old bird' comment and I think she was quite touched.
The benign nature of your kidney growth was a relief that we all shared in. Make the most of Christmas. It might have been very different!
Thanks again
martin
DEATHS
BALLINGER Martin aged 63 died peacefully in hospital on 27th February. Dearly loved husband of Di and devoted father to Nikki and Andrew and
grandfather to Ella, Polly and Ruby.
Funeral service at 2pm on Monday 5th March at St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral,
Newcastle upon Tyne. Family flowers only. Donations, if desired, for St. Oswald's Hospice. Donations in lieu to Watsons Funeral Directors, 282 Old
Durham Road, Gateshead NE8 4BP.
The funeral service was held at the Cathedral Church of St. Mary, Newcastle upon Tyne, on 5 March 2007. He was buried a day later in Bolam churchyard,
Bolam, Northumberland, not far from Bolam Hall, the former residence of Lord DECIES, where he and his wife Diana had lived for several years.
Go-Ahead chairman Sir Patrick BROWN said : "He was a wonderful man, extremely modest. If anyone told him he had done well he would always credit the team."
The following appeared on google's cache of the Cathedral Church of St. Mary's website:
"It is with great sadness that we heard the news of Martin BALLINGER's death last Tuesday, 27th Ferbruary. Martin has been a great supporter and friend of the Cathedral and a much valued member of the Cathedral Design Committee. His Funeral Service will be in this building which he loved so much."
According to the certificate of his death Martin Stanley Andrew BALLINGER was born in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, on 19 November 1943.
(GRO
OTHER NEWSPAPER ARTICLES CONSULTED:
The Journal, 7 March 2007. "Tributes to driving force in bus firm"
http://www.twst.com/interrviews/8777 "Transportation Analysis: Martin Ballinger - Go Ahead Group (gog.1)" dated 2 April 2001
AFX News Limited: Go-Ahead announces death of former CEO Martin Ballinger. 27.02.2007.
London Evening Standard: 19th September 2003: Jonathan PRYNN
Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2004/may/27/transportintheuk
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/apr/05/transport.ladbrokegrove
(revised 23.10,2025)