The head of HS2 Ltd has announced he is leaving the business to join Rolls-Royce. Simon Kirby has been CEO at the company behind the £56 billion high-speed rail project for just over two and a half years.

Reportedly the highest-paid civil servant, earning £750,000 annually after joining in May 2014 from Network Rail, he will join Rolls-Royce as COO.

The first phase of the HS2 scheme is expected to receive Parliamentary approval by the end of the year, with work to begin by mid-2017.

The chairman of HS2, David Higgins, said of Mr Kirby’s departure: “While, naturally, we will miss his experience and leadership, I also recognise that he is joining a truly great, global company in an industry in which he has previously worked.”

Mr Kirby said: “HS2 is not just a highly ambitious project, but also one that will leave a lasting legacy for Britain. It has been, therefore, a huge honour to have been its chief executive and to have been involved in creating a leadership team made up of the best talents from this country and elsewhere.

“I have absolute confidence in their ability to deliver the project and, in doing so, to help transform the way we do things in this country.”