Draft:James Vickers

James Vickers is an English pianist and ex-Commercial & Business Development Director at South West Trains.

Early life
Born Marcel James Vickers in Lambeth in 1961, he began receiving piano lessons at the age of five. He attended Queen Elizabeth’s Boys’ and The Ashmole schools in North London. He was awarded an Exhibitioner’s scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music Junior Department at the age of 14, where he studied piano with Robert Wilson. During this period it was his second study, the trombone, that gave him professional experience in recording, radio and television work. This included playing on the recording of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.. by Richard Blackford.

Musical career
James became a full-time student at the Royal Academy of Music in 1979, where he began to concentrate wholly on the piano and accompaniment in particular. He spent six years there studying solo piano with Christopher Elton (for five years) and Alexander Kelly (for one), and accompaniment with Rex Stephens and John Streets. He gained the LRAM diploma in 1981 and graduated with honours the following year.

He was awarded two Alice Payne scholarships, a grant from the St Marylebone Trust and won six major prizes at the RAM. As a result of hearing James play in the Elena Gerhardt Lieder prize Robert Tear asked him to accompany him in an evening recital in May 1984. He also won the inter-collegiate Tankard Lieder prize with the baritone, Nigel Cliffe, the pair also recording for BBC Radio Derby and BBC Radio London and appearing in a masterclass with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf at the Wigmore Hall. He then went on to freelance as a pianist, accompanist and teacher for five years before changing career.

Career in public transport
In 1991, James joined the Department of Transport Statistics Branch, initially undertaking International Comparisons and producing a report on road deaths. Then, as Higher Executive Officer, London Road Statistics, he managed a team of four staff responsible for the collection and analysis of London traffic data for Government publications and Ministerial briefings, and let and managed private sector survey contracts.

James then moved to the newly formed Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and was a member of the sales teams that successfully procured train operations under The Chiltern Railway Company Limited and Regional Railways North East Franchise Agreements during the original privatisation of Britain’s railways. He later played a key part in the Strategic Rail Authority’s senior management, acting as Assistant Director for Business Transformation (2004-2005), Policy Advisor (2002-2004) and Replacement Team Leader (2000-2002), where he negotiated the initial £238m Midland Mainline upgrade.

In 2007, on the abolition of the SRA, he joined MVA Consultancy (now SYSTRA) as Director, Rail Business Planning. He led MVA’s support to franchise bidders and TOCs and directed the work to establish Abu Dhabi’s Department of Transport pubic transport division. Moving to Stagecoach Rail in 2012, he led the development of the winning revenue line for the East Coast franchise and directed the drafting of the Marketing and Fares Plan. Then as Commercial & Business Development Director of South West Trains, developed and implemented commercial management strategies to meet the objectives of the £1bn turnover business as it prepared for full revenue risk after a long period in revenue support.

Having set up RPM Business Strategies, he undertook various roles on behalf of the Department for Transport. These included leading the successful conclusion of six of the eleven commercial negotiations with Train Operating Companies to introduce Smart Ticketing on National Rail, overseeing the introduction of the 16-17 Saver and Flexible Season Tickets

Return to the piano
After buying a Yamaha CF6 in 2019, James returned to playing the piano, regularly recording and posting to his YouTube channel JamesV61. He has recorded all sorts of music from Albinoni and Bach to Ravel and Satie, including jazz and popular tunes as well as classical. In 2023 he started a new channel, PerfectPiano that is a series of videos on individual topics, each around five minutes long, that cover all aspects of piano playing from basic technique to interpretation, scales to pedalling and practising techniques to use of rubato.

Personal life
Having divorced twice in his early life, James is now happily married to Anna and they live with two golden retrievers now that her son, Oliver, is at the University of Derby.

Hobbies
In 2014 James fulfilled a lifetime ambition and gained his ARDS motor racing license. He went on to race Caterhams, Production BMWs and an ex-Gordon Spice Capri at circuits around the country.

Autobiography
In 2024 James published his autobiography, Pianos, Trains and Automobiles