HS2 ‘sheriffs’ to keep contractors in check HS2 Ltd is to deploy 13 senior leaders along the line’s Phase One route between London and the West Midlands to ensure that its contractors comply with assurances it and the Department for Transport have made. HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Thurston revealed that the roles have been created to ensure better alignment between HS2 Ltd’s construction pledges and its contractors’ actions. The announcement was made at a government cross-party transport select committee meeting in which MPs, local councillors and senior environmental figures called for independent “sheriffs” to ensure contractors working on HS2 are kept in check.