Thomas Hugh Fenwick, known as Hugh Fenwick, was born in 1944. He undertook the British Rail Civil Engineering Training Scheme between 1963 to 1967, also completing a College Diploma course in Civil Engineering. He worked in the Department of District Engineer in York from 1968, moving onto the Works Maintenance Section, Regional Civil Engineer’s Department at York in 1970, also becoming a Chartered Civil Engineer in the same year. He then worked at the Works Design Office in Regional Civil Engineer’s Department at York from 1971 and completed a master's degree in Structural Engineering (part-time) from the University of Bradford between 1971 and 1973. He was employed in the Department of District Engineer at Doncaster in 1977 and was promoted to the Works Design Office in the Regional Civil Engineer’s Department, York the same year. In 1980 he became the Resident Engineer for Selby Diversion project. He then moved into the Outside Parties’ Bridge Section for the Regional Civil Engineer’s Department in York from 1984 to 1985, when he became Assistant Works Engineer and from 1986 was Works Engineer Design & Construction. He was appointed as Assistant Regional Civil Engineer (Design) in 1990, and then served as Manager for InterCity Civil Engineering Design Group from 1992.

In 1994, he became Director of Civil Engineering Design Group Ltd., and from 1995 served as the Managing Director of British Steel Civil Engineering Design Group, before becoming an independent consultant in 2002.