Published: October 5th 2023
Check out the latest Movers and Shakers across Transport and Infrastructure from September…
Have confirmed the appointment of Mark Southwell as the new Chief Executive for their Transportation Global Business. Southwell has 35 years’ experience in civil engineering and joined AECOM in 2019 as the Managing Director of Transportation, Europe.
Managing Director of Transportation Sue Kershaw is leaving the business. Her role will be filled on an interim basis by Group Commercial Director David Taylor.
Have announced that Angie Doll has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, with effect from the end of November. Doll has been Chief Operating Officer at GTR since April 2022.
Mark Pavlides has also been appointed as Chief Customer Officer, a newly created role.
Have announced the appointment of Colette Carroll as their new Managing Director of the Transportation Division, UK, and Europe. Carroll joined the business last year as Market Director for Strategic Rail and will succeed Andrew English.
Steven McGee has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer, for the UK and Ireland. Having joined the Irish business last year, McGee will be expanding his responsibilities to the company’s operations in construction, civil engineering, and rail across the UK.
Have announced that Tom Meacock has been appointed as a Capital Projects and Infrastructure Partner, leaving Atkins where he was most recently Director of Rail Consulting.
Have announced that David Hughes will be starting a new position as Major Programme Director, UK and International. This role will focus on clients across energy, transport, and the broader built environment. Hughes leaves the DfT where he has been Director General, Rail Infrastructure.
Jennifer Rigby joins as Chief Digital and Transformation Officer. Having held senior roles across a range of sectors, Jennifer joins Southern from Mozaic Services.
Dave Kaye has been appointed as Director of Water. He joins from Abellio where he was their Chief Operating Officer- Rail.
Fiona Brunskill has been appointed permanent Chief People Officer. Tricia Wright moves into the role of Chief Officer for Pensions Review, and following the retirement of Howard Carter as General Counsel after 17 years in the role, Andrea Clarke has been appointed as interim General Counsel.
Have announced the appointment of Marie Daly as the charity’s new Chair. Daly is currently Chief Customer and Culture Officer at Transport for Wales.
Chris Howe has joined as Capital Commercial Lead. He leaves the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs where he has been Programme Commercial Director since 2020.
Have appointed David Glennon as its new Group Head of Digital Engineering. He brings over 25 years of experience which has seen him in roles such as Arcadis Head of Digital and Aecom Director of Digital Project Delivery.
Ben Wilson and Diem Bradley have joined the consulting business, both leaving Atkins. Wilson has been appointed as a Director and Bradley joins as an Associate Director.
Ben Wheeldon is returning to Heathrow as the Director of Long-Term Strategy and Masterplanning after three years at Mace as Programme Director on Euston Station.
Have appointed Emma Crossland as the new Chief People Officer. She joins from the retail company, Matalan, where she was HR Director.
Richard Watts has been appointed as Rail Sector Director. He joins from TXM Plant where he has been Chief Operating Officer since 2019.
Have announced that Andrew Dugdale will be joining them as Market Director (Rail, Metros, LRT, and Highways). He is leaving Mott MacDonald after four years as Rail Director, Principal Account Manager.
Matt Pocock has recently been appointed as Operations Director for the Wessex Route. He joins from Arriva Rail, London, where he was also Operations Director.
Tim Chapman has been appointed as Partner and Director, leaving his role as Director at Arup after 36 years.
Martin Neeson, Executive Vice-President, has left Skanska after 22 years. Andy MacAskill and Anna Mann, Communications Directors, have also left after 16 and 12 years.
Have announced the appointment of David Buisson as their new Managing Director, Global Head of Project Controls. Buisson leaves Jacobs where he has been Delivery Integration Director for Sizewell C.
Debbie Francis OBE has been appointed Managing Director of Loram, UK. Francis joined the team in 2020, having held numerous executive positions including Managing Director of Direct Rail Services and Finance and Commercial Director of Network Rail’s former London and North Western Route.
Have announced that Phil Hodges has been appointed as Head of Energy, for the UK, and also joins the UK executive team. Hodges was previously Managing Director of Energy at AFRY Solutions.
They have also appointed Rachel Jones as the Regenerative Solutions Director within its Transport team. She joins from WSP where she was Corporate Advisory Lead and Technical Director.
Darren Mort has been appointed as the new President of Bechtel’s global Infrastructure business. He has been with the company since joining as a graduate. Most recently he has been Global Operations Manager for the Infrastructure business.
Chris Jackson has been appointed as Managing Director. Jackson has been Interim Managing Director since May this year.
Have appointed Skanska Head of Procurement & Supply Chain, Andrew Spencer, to the newly-created role of Supply Chain And Procurement Director.
Hires 15 senior Buckingham Group Staff as part of their plan to set up a new building operation. Ian Burford, currently in the role of Group Director, Build and Pre-Construction at Buckingham, will head the new Strabag Building Unit.
Andrew Johns moves internally to become Technical Director for Nature-based Solutions in the UK and Ireland. He joined the company in 2019.
Have made a number of senior hires to its Infrastructure group. This includes Ian Bayes as Senior Director, Phil Iwobi and Director and David Hutchens as Associate Director.
Eryl Evans, who has led Currie & Brown’s Infrastructure group for the past 10 years, will also be stepping into a new role as National Head of Infrastructure.
Have appointed John Theos and Paul Doyle as joint Managing Directors. Theos joins from Bauer Spezialtiefbau, where has been Regional Director for the Americas since 2016. Doyle joined Bauer Technologies in 2016 and has been Operations Director since 2018.
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: August 29th 2023
Make sure you’re up to date with all the big moves across Transport & Infrastructure from August…
COO, Ian Cochrane is leaving the business after 10 years on the board. The role of COO is not being replaced but his COO duties are being re-assigned to other executive directors and the senior leadership team.
Have announced that Tricia Williams will take over as their new Managing Director. Williams, who is currently Chief Operating Officer, will take over from Nick Donovan when he steps down from his role in spring 2024.
Have appointed Matt Gill as its new Chief Financial Officer. He succeeds Finance Director George Restall, who is retiring from Tilbury Douglas later this year.
Guillaume Chanussot joins as Chief Executive Officer UK. He leaves Keolis where he has been Managing Director of KeolisAmey Metrolink.
Have announced the appointment of Laura Hughes as Energy Sector Director. Hughes leaves Fugro where she was Country Director UK.
After 26 years on the board, Chief Executive Neil Stothard is standing down. He will be succeeded as Chief Executive on 1st September by Anna Bielby, who has been Chief Financial Officer for the past nine months.
Mike Halliday has been appointed as Managing Director, Rail. He leaves Network Rail after more than six years as Route Delivery Director LNE.
Have announced that Rob Morris, Managing Director of Rail Infrastructure and Sambit Banerjee, Managing Director of Rolling Stock and Customer Services, will jointly assume the role of Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Mobility United Kingdom and Ireland.
Have made two appointments to their senior leadership team. Tracey Collins is appointed to a newly created role of Head of Emerging Talent, Diversity & Inclusion, while Tracey McNamara joins as Group Purchasing Director. Collins has been the group’s Head of Diversity & Inclusion since March 2022. McNamara joins from Berry Global, where she was Purchasing Director.
Have confirmed the appointments of three Regional Managing Directors.
Ellie Burrows has been appointed as the permanent Regional Managing Director for Network Rail’s Southern region. Ellie has been in the Regional Managing Director role for the Southern region on an interim basis since January this year.
Rob McIntosh, currently the Eastern Region Managing Director, has been appointed as the new Regional Managing Director for the North West & Central region.
Jake Kelly has been appointed as the new Managing Director for the Eastern region. He has most recently been Group Director, System Operation.
Have widened Steven McGee’s role, making him Chief Operating Officer of the company in the UK as well as Ireland. He joined Sisk from ISG last year as COO in charge of the business in Ireland.
Jonathan Ziebart moves internally to become Managing Director (UK) & Group Business Development Director. Ziebart joined the business in 2018 as Group Business Development Director.
Ready to discuss your senior hiring requirements?
Let me know a time that suits you for a call.
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: August 7th 2023
By now, you’ve heard that HS2 Chief Executive Mark Thurston is stepping down from his role at the end of September. This development begs a crucial question: who will succeed him?
All eyes are looking to HS2 to see what their next move is going to be.
Here are the pros and cons of the possible options for the next leader of Europe’s largest infrastructure project:
Advantage: If you have the talent with the potential to step up then making a promotion is an extremely positive message to send to the whole organisation. It can be a good move if you want continuity of direction and provides a successor with familiarity with the project.
Disadvantage: Looking internally is a normally a smallish pool of potential candidates and will most likely be someone taking a large step up or across into the role.
Advantage: Familiarity with the project.
Disadvantage: You risk harming your suppliers capability to deliver and it could cause friction with some of the supply chain.
Advantage: They will understand the market and the political environment of how this type of programme operates.
Disadvantage: It’s a tight pool of candidates and extremely few will have the experience to deal with this scale of programme.
Advantage: Opens up different talent options and skillsets.
Disadvantage: Learning curve on rail experience.
Advantage: Could get a highly experienced candidate that’s been there and done this before.
Disadvantage: Could be expensive and there is a potential learning curve for an overseas candidate on how the UK construction market operates.
It’s a big job to fill. It’ll be interesting to see who steps into the hot seat!
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: July 26th 2023
Want to keep up with all the latest industry news?
Check out our roundup of movers and shakers across Transport & Infrastructure from July…
Chief Executive Mark Thurston is to step down from his role at the end of September after six and a half years in the job.
Kat Ferguson moves internally to become Lower Thames Crossing Supply Chain Development Director. She was formerly National Highways Programme Procurement Director seconded into Lower Thames, but she has now made the full step into the project.
Sukhi Johal has also been appointed as a Non-Executive Director. She is currently an Executive Director of UK Government Investments (UKGI).
Have appointed Andrea Ruckstuhl as its new Chief Executive for Europe. Ruckstuhl joined Lendlease in 2005 and has most recently been Director EMEA.
Mandy Duncan has moved internally to become Managing Director Rail & Aviation. She joined Kier last year as Commercial Director and before that was Commercial Lead for the UK rail business unit within Morgan Sindall Infrastructure.
Andy Lingham has also become Water Director for the Natural Resources, Nuclear and Networks Business, having been Operations Director for major projects in the South & East of the UK since 2021.
Have announced that Katie Jackson will join National Grid as President of National Grid Ventures (NGV) and sit on the Group Executive Committee. She joins from Shell where she most recently served as Executive Vice President of Acquisitions, Divestments and New Business Development.
Neil Grabham has been named as Managing Director. He succeeds Andy Heath, who left Merseyrail earlier this summer and Jane English who has been acting Managing Director.
Anit Chandarana announced as DfT’s Rail Infrastructure Group interim Director General. He joins on secondment from Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) and will work closely with GBRTT to deliver government’s vision for rail reform.
Rachel Addison has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director. She will chair Wates’ group audit committee. She has previously served as Chief Financial Officer at media companies Future plc and TI Media, as well as Managing Director at newspaper operator Reach Regionals.
Former boss of nmcn Lee Marks has joined cladding contractor Permasteelisa as Group Chief Operations Officer.
Have appointed two Commercial Directors for its infrastructure division. Jon McRae has joined from Balfour Beatty as Commercial Director for its National Highways activities. Andrew Arpino, who has been with the company for nine years, is promoted to the role of Sector Commercial Director for the local authority business.
Have appointed Steven Whyte as Grid Modernisation Strategy Leader within its Energy Business Unit. He joins from SSEN Transmission where he was Senior Manager – Strategy.
Sabine van Hooijdonk-Verboom has been appointed as the Chief HR Officer on the company’s executive committee. She has been with BAM since early 2022.
Have appointed Gordon Stirling as its National Health Director. Stirling joins after twenty years with BAM, the last nine as a Framework Manager for healthcare building projects.
Tony Chisnall leaves Turner & Townsend where he was Director – UK Programme Management, to become VP Programmes for the setup of Riyadh Air.
Have appointed Eleni Jordan as their new Commercial Director. She is set to start in the new role in September, joining from Chiltern Railways where she has served as Commercial and Customer Strategy Director for the past 6 years.
Have appointed former Metnor Construction Chief Executive Chris Cant as Regional Director for its UK North Division.
Have announced the appointment of Ben Lynch as its new Director of Rail. Lynch moves internally from his role as Business Strategy Director.
Managing Director, Simon Jukes, has announced that he has retired following 5 years in the role. A successor has yet to be announced.
Helen McAllister joins as Strategy Director. She has most recently been Programme Director (Freight Reform) for the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT).
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: July 14th 2023
Do you agree with Elon Musk that working from home is morally dubious?
A lot of big companies are focused on getting employees back into the office because productivity is lower at home.
Dr Libby Sander – an acknowledged expert on the future of work – suggests that instead of focusing solely on the workplace we instead need to shift our attention to creating the work states that will enable us to be at our best.
A study by Prodscore – an employee productivity monitoring solution – found that if an employee slacked off at the office, they’ll do the same a home.
So, the question should be “how can we create a workspace that will encourage productivity?”
LinkedIn have redesigned their San Francisco office with 75 different types of work settings. There are work areas for quiet focus without interruptions, outdoor workplaces, cafe areas, meeting rooms with or without tables to alter the power dynamics and a range of others in between.
People want to want to work in different environments throughout the week in order to fulfil different requirements.
So, whether you offer 100% remote working, 100% office working or something in between. It is important to make sure that employees have access to different types of workspaces in order to achieve maximum productivity.
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: June 29th 2023
Wimbledon is on so it must be summer.
June has been a busy month for movers and shakers across Transport & Infrastructure. Check out the headlines below…
Andy Lord has been appointed as London’s permanent Transport Commissioner following a rigorous international search and selection process. He took on the role of Commissioner of TfL on an interim basis from 25 October 2022.
Two new Non-Executive Directors have been appointed. Joanna Davinson and Keith Smithson have been added to the board joining four Existing Non-Executive Directors who have all been reappointed and will work alongside its Chair, Sir Jonathan Thompson.
Paul Wright also joins as Health, Safety & Security Director. Wright has previously held senior H&S roles at Costain, Biffa and joins HS2 from THG – an online retailer.
Carolyn Ferguson has been appointed as the group’s Chief People Officer. She has worked for Go-Ahead since 2001 and has been Go-Ahead’s company secretary since 2006 – a position she will retain in addition to her new role.
Have announced the appointment of Simon Kirby as Special Advisor to continue the growth of its Capital Projects and Infrastructure business. Kirby joins Nicols Group, where he was the Managing Partner.
Intelligent Transport Systems UK (ITS UK), the voice of the transport technology industry, has appointed Mott MacDonald Head of ITS service Stuart Scott as its new Chair.
David Statham rejoins as Commercial Director Rail. Statham has been working as an Independent Consultant since leaving Southeastern in 2021 where he was Managing Director.
Have appointed Sellafield Chief Executive Officer Martin Chown as a Non-Executive Board Director. Chown has worked at Sellafield for over seven years. Prior to that, he held senior executive roles with Balfour Beatty and GSK.
Have recruited Cameron Gilmour to lead its Crown House Technologies mechanical & electrical contracting subsidiary. Gilmour joins Crown House from Doosan Babcock, where he held a number of senior roles, most recently Vice President of its nuclear and defence business.
Simon Hughes joins Geobear as Managing Director of its UK and Ireland business after several years running his own consultancy business. He previously ran Arcadis’ life sciences and chemicals business.
The UK cleantech company that specialises in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) has appointed Paul Drennan-Durose as its new Chief Executive Officer. Drennan-Durose succeeds John Pilkington who becomes Non-executive Chairman; Paul joins Carbon8 with immediate effect.
Mike Evans joins the group as Managing Director Rail and Aviation. Evans leaves VolkerFitzpatrick where he has spent the last 23 years’, most recently as Operations Director.
With the appointment of Chris Jackson as Interim Managing Director of TransPennine Express, Craig Harrop has been appointed Interim Regional Director for Northern in the North West. Harrop was previously Head of Trains & Stations for Northern across Lancashire, Merseyside and Cumbria.
Kerry Peters has been appointed Regional Director for Northern in Yorkshire, Humber and the East Midlands. She takes up her new post at the end of the summer, when the current Regional Director, Tony Baxter, leaves to become Operations Director at Chiltern Railways.
Peter Lensink, Transdev’s current Chief Officer & Managing Director of Transdev New Zealand, has been promoted to Chief Operations Officer for both Transdev Australia and New Zealand. Lensink joined Transdev in 2017 from Abellio.
Have made two senior appointments Llewelyn Morgan has been appointed as Head of Innovation, joining from Oxford County Council.
Peter Weldon joins as Director of Net Zero Transport from GHD where he was Business Development Lead
Kata Cserep joins as Global Aviation Lead – Partner. She leaves ICF where she has been for the past 13 years, most recently as, Global Managing Director, Aviation Travel and Tourism.
Chris Edmonds has been appointed as Regional Director for South Wales. Edmonds has been with the business since 2006 most recently as Regional Operations Director for South Wales.
Have announced the appointment of Gillian Duggan as Chief People and Culture Officer, and Ruth McGowan to the new role of Chief Strategy and Growth Officer. Duggan’s previous roles include the public sector as well as listed and private equity-owned businesses. McGowan has worked in consultancy, private equity, FMCG and health businesses.
Have appointed Sean McCallion as Operations Director. He joins with more than 30 years of experience, having previously worked for VolkerStevin, North Midland Construction, Miller Civil Engineering, Alfred McAlpine and Hochtief.
Garry Mowbray as announced his retirement and Tim Bentley will take over as UK and Ireland Managing Director. Andy Derbyshire has taken the role as Group President for Wabtec Transit Global Operations.
A leading provider of non-intrusive subsurface imaging solutions have announced its expansion into the UK market appointing Trevor Moore as UK Director. Moore leaves Murphy Geospatial where he has been since 2012.
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: June 26th 2023
Having diversity on your Executive teams is better for business.
A recent study found that FTSE350 companies with more than 25% female Executives had a profit margin 11.4 times higher than those with no female Executives.
You know that diversity – in all its forms – is key. How to achieve it at board level is the real challenge.
We partner with SWiFT, a Women in Rail initiative, that champions senior female leaders in transport. They offer networking, advice and support to women across the sector.
This week they are hosting their first ever Non-Executive Director workshop. The event features three amazing female leaders who will share their experience about becoming Non-Executives and how it can benefit your career.
More details on the event can be found here.
Encouraging employees to seek out Non-Executive positions in allied businesses (not in competition or conflict) is so beneficial to your business and to the individuals.
The 3 main benefits to your business and to individuals taking these positions are:
Your employee will gain a scope of experience and knowledge from another sector or type of business to your own, without losing that individual.
Stepping up to a Board level position is a huge step. Having that NED experience under the belt allows someone to become familiar with what is expected of them. They can gain invaluable experience around:
If someone is looking for a new challenge. To take that next step in their career, but you aren’t in a position to promote them yet. Or they aren’t quite ready for that step. A Non-Executive position could fulfil that need without you losing a valuable member of the business.
What’s also great is that all of these benefits are risk free to the business. Your amazing pipeline of diverse candidates are gaining all of this great experience at another company!
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: June 20th 2023
In the six months since you last read our update, there has been a lot of movement in the UK major projects pipeline.
Check out the latest roundup…
Work on the Euston section and Euston Station – was paused in April. Despite this there is still plenty of activity on the mega project.
The upgrade, broken down into eight core projects, four west of Leeds and four to the east is progressing.
Construction has begun on three of the eight projects. Work already carried out includes the installation of 60km of overhead electric cable between Church Fenton and Colton Junction near York.
It also includes track upgrades through Leeds, Batley, Morley and Wakefield Kirkgate, signalling upgrades and a new footbridge at Castleford station.
In March there was a line closure at Stalybridge where 2km of track was remodelled on the approach to the station, 23 signals installed, 13 crossovers upgraded and overhead line equipment was installed.
The programme is expected to be complete between 2036 and 2041 at a cost of between £9bn and £11.5bn.
A key appointment was made earlier this year with Jim Crawford joining as Programme Director.
In May, the full timetable was introduced. The introduction marked the final milestone of the Crossrail project.
The first stage of the £5bn East West Rail project connecting Bletchley to Bicester with a 21-mile stretch along the old Varsity line, is nearing completion. The earthworks and the bridges are all finished.
In May, East West Rail and the Department for Transport confirmed their preferred route for a new stretch of track connecting Bedford and Cambridge, including a station at Tempsford.
In May Network Rail published its Strategic Business Plan setting out how it intends to spend £44bn on operating, maintaining and renewing the rail network in England and Wales during Control Period 7, which runs for five years from April 1 2024.
The SBP follows on from the Department for Transport’s publication in December of its High Level Output Statement setting out what the government wants the railway to deliver in CP7, and the Statement of Funds Available.
Capital projects to enhance the network are funded separately on a case-by-case basis and no longer form part of Network Rail’s five-year settlement.
There have also been bundles of contracts awarded across the regions, which we detailed here.
United Utilities have submitted plans for the Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme, also known as HARP, to Ribble Valley Council. Elsewhere, six other local authorities along the route have approved plans for their areas.
Construction is expected to begin later this year.
The project is 83% complete in line with the 2022/23 business plan. All tunnel primary lining is complete (30.7km); 66% (20.2km) of tunnel secondary lining works is complete and 83% of shaft secondary lining is complete, with 18 of 21 shafts completed.
The project was delayed by two years in March by transport secretary Mark Harper, who said that although the government “remain[s] committed” to the Lower Thames Crossing, the process to get development consent was an opportunity to “consult further to ensure there is an effective and deliverable plan”.
Despite this a review of plans is set to start this month unless a request for a delay from an opposing council is approved.
Following on from the July 2021, High Court judgement that ruled that the decision to grant the DCO was “unlawful”, the current Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper continues to look again at the project’s DCO in what’s known as a “re-determination” process, following a judicial review.
Unlike a standard DCO planning process which has fixed timescales, a re-determination doesn’t, meaning there is no timeframe for a decision.
If the scheme is approved, National Highways are not expecting any preliminary works to start before 2024.
Significant milestones have been achieved on the Hinkley Point C project over the past six months:
EDF has appointed a consortium of Jacobs UK, Setec, Tractebel and Egis as its design team for the £20bn Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk.
The companies, known as the ICOSH consortium, previously worked on Sizewell’s precursor at Hinkley Point C in Somerset and will transfer their expertise to the new megaproject.
Meanwhile campaigners have launched a legal challenge against the development consent granted by Kwasi Kwarteng and calls for the government’s £700M investment into Sizewell C announced in Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn statement to be overturned.
National Grid ESO announced a series of new reforms to help cut waiting times for connecting new power projects to the grid. There are currently more than £200bn worth of projects sitting in the connections queue.
Under the new rules, ESO has written to parties seeking to connect projects and asked for updates on their progress. They will be using this information to prioritise projects closer to completion and deprioritise those that still have a way to go before they’re ready to connect.
National Grid have also announced that they are seeking key supply chain partners to deliver “The Great Grid Upgrade” the largest overhaul of the grid in generations. The programme will initially centre on nine onshore projects across England and Wales.
The UK’s pipeline of offshore wind projects has reached 97,944 MW, up from 91,287 MW a year ago. The pipeline includes projects at every stage of development, including operational, under construction, consented, or planned.
The UK total pipeline was second globally to China with 157 GW.
SSE is to invest £100m to further develop plans for the major hydroelectric project in Scotland, although the final investment decision on the scheme is not expected until next year.
The £100m investment will fund the next phase of detailed project design and refinement, construction planning and procurement will progress through 2023 and into early 2024. Around half of the £100m development investment will now be allocated to the pre-construction refinement phase of the Coire Glas project, including a comprehensive package of site investigation works which have now commenced and will complete later this year.
BP has acquired a 40% stake in the UK’s Viking CCS project from Harbour Energy as the government looks to accelerate plans to develop carbon capture and storage. The Viking project aims to meet up to a third of the UK’s annual target of capturing 30mn tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030, by repurposing old depleted gasfields off the Humber region coast.
RWE is also planning to progress three new carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects across the UK, which could secure up to 4.7 GW of generation and capture 11 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
Government have launched an international competition to find the leading designs for small modular reactors with the aim of co-funding the development of the technology.
Jeremy Hunt also confirmed plans to set up Great British Nuclear, a new body to oversee the revival of atomic energy and smooth the development of a new pipeline of power stations.
London Luton Airport has submitted revived plans for a major airport expansion to raise capacity from 18m to 32m passengers per year. Consent is being sought to build a new terminal, a major programme of earthworks to create an extension to the current airfield platform and new airside and landside facilities.
The government has unveiled a £20bn programme to save England’s NHS estate.
Five more hospitals will be added to the list of 40 to be built announced in 2019, and many will be completed in 25% less time than initially predicted using modern methods of construction.
However, the £20bn is significantly less than the £35bn the government estimated the programme would cost and the main building works have yet to start at 33 facilities.
More details on the scheme can be found here.
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: May 26th 2023
The King and Queen were crowned, and the UK’s Eurovision bubble was popped. May has also brought us three bank holidays and the BBQ has been officially dusted off.
As we celebrate the sun finally making an appearance, check out the latest movers and shakers across Transport & Infrastructure…
Lendlease Europe has announced that Neil Martin has decided to retire as Chief Executive Officer and will depart the business later this year. Martin will have been with the company for 27 years and took over as CEO in 2019.
Martin will remain in his role for the next six months to support a smooth transition and the process to appoint a new Europe Chief Executive Officer will begin soon.
Have announced a wave of new appointments. The three new Managing Directors – all internal appointments– are James Corrigan, Simon Arnold and Andy Scott.
James Corrigan is now UK Managing Director of Infrastructure. Simon Arnold is the new UK Managing Director of Real Estate Project Management, taking over from Chris Sargent who has moved to be UK Managing Director for Real Estate. Andy Scott takes up the newly created position of UK Managing Director for Defence.
In the UK Digital Business, Dr Ade Awonaike joins the firm as Director of Data and Analytics in the Real Estate team, and Christopher Frost has started as Director of Data and Analytics to support infrastructure clients.
It was also announced that Bill McElroy was retiring from his role as Partner following 12 years with the business. He will still be supporting the business as an Independent Consultant.
Simon Ellison, National Highways Sector Director, is set to leave the business this month. Ann-Marie Morrison will succeed him in the role. Morrison joined Costain in 2021 as Customer Account Director.
Chris Ottley has moved internally to become Director, Regional Development Partnership with Balfour Beatty Highways. This follows 10 years within their Rail business, most recently as Operations Director for Rail Systems.
Former Managing Director of Alun Griffiths, Steve Tomkins also joins as Construction Director – BEP – Major Projects, working as part of a joint venture to construct the Box Encapsulation Plant at Sellafield.
Have announced the appointment of Will Wilson as Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Linbrooke, Will held senior leadership positions at a number of global companies including Siemens, Alstom and GE Transportation. He was formerly the CEO of Siemens Mobility in the UK.
Jonathan Wilson joins as a Director to boost the firm’s technical expertise, and deliver advisory services to lenders and investors across a raft of large-scale PPP projects across the UK and internationally. He leaves Faithful + Gould where he has been since 2004.
Have completed their restructure driven by a switch from a regional to a national sector-based operating model. The main board has been expanded with four new promotions. Steven Hudson, Executive Commercial Director, Andrew Hunter, Executive Director of Engineering & Technical Services, Grant Findlay, Executive Managing Director – Buildings and, Tony Gates, Executive Managing Director – Infrastructure.
Supporting the board are new Director appointments:
Tim Wates has taken over from his cousin Sir James Wates as Chairman of their family building firm. Sir James Wates had spent 10 years as chairman of Wates Group but has now handed over the reins to one of his cousins.
Global construction consultancy, Soben, has appointed Tom Harrison, former Global COO of Turner & Townsend, as its new Strategic Advisor. Harrison will work closely with Soben’s executive team to help accelerate the firm’s global expansion.
Have announced that they are restructuring their Infrastructure Services division with the current three business streams set to become two.
From July 1 the current Highways, Utilities and Infrastructure operations will become Transportation and Natural Resources and Nuclear & Networks. Joe Incutti, currently Group Managing Director, Kier Highways, will spearhead the whole Transportation business stream while Andrew Bradshaw, currently Group Managing Director of Utilities, will lead the Natural Resources, Nuclear and Networks business stream as Ross Mackenzie, Interim Managing Director of Kier Infrastructure assumes the role of Managing Director, Natural Resources and Nuclear.
Mark Pengelly, current Group Managing Director of the Infrastructure business is set to retire at the end of this year.
Richard Robinson is joining as a Partner. He leaves PA Consulting where he has been a Partner for the past two years.
Marc Barone has been appointed Chief Operating Officer. Barone has most recently been Chief Growth Officer at AECOM.
Christopher Mills also joins the business as Discipline Director – Transport & Mobility. He leaves Stantec where he was Senior Associate Strategy and Planning.
Have announced the appointment of Alan Brookes as CEO. Brookes moves up internally from his position as Chief Operating Officer. He joined Arcadis when EC Harris was acquired, and was integral to the combining of the businesses into one Arcadis team.
Following this announcement several Global Business Area (GBA) leaders have been promoted to the ELT.
As of 1 June 2023, Mark Cowlard, Global President for Places; Heather Polinsky, Global President for Resilience; and Greg Steele, Global President for Mobility, will all join Arcadis’ executive leadership team.
Have appointed Julie Crawford to the role of National Highways Director, responsible for the company’s relations with National Highways. She joins from HS2 Ltd where she was Sponsorship Director.
Jason Layfield has been promoted to Executive Director of Buildings after 22 years with the firm. He joined Ramboll UK as an Assistant Engineer in 2001. Jules Handy has joined Ramboll UK as Head of Building Structures after 16 years at Atkins.
Dan Williams has been appointed as Managing Director of Skanska UK’s Building Services unit. Williams moves into the Managing Director role from his current position of Operations Director.
Have announced the appointment of Nick Westcott as Train Service Delivery Director. He leaves Avanti West Coast where he has been Operations Director since 2019. He succeeds Marcus Jones who leaves in early June to take up the role of Route Director, Western Route at Network Rail, where he will continue to work closely with MTR Elizabeth line.
John Carlin has joined as a Regional Director as its looks to expand across central England. Carlin has spent most of the last seven years at Wates where he was Regional Managing Director for Construction Midlands.
Mark McGeady has joined as Contacts Director. This follows seven years at Joseph Gallagher where he was also Contracts Director.
Colette Carroll, Market Director for Strategic Rail at Atkins, has been appointed to the Railway Industry Association (RIA) Board.
Carroll will play a key role in the strategic direction and governance of RIA – the UK’s national trade body for suppliers to the railway industry, as one of the organisation’s 13 RIA Board members.
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: May 23rd 2023
Keep up to date with all the latest developments across Transport & Infrastructure. Check out our latest roundup of major contracts that have been awarded in the past 3 months…
Contractors have been alerted to £2.8bn of work for Yorkshire Water. The work, covering April 2025 to May 2030, is divided into two frameworks valued at £1.3bn and £1.5bn.
The £1.5bn framework will cover non-infrastructure works across Yorkshire, including construction, design, civil engineering and process works. The £1.3bn framework will cover design and civil engineering works and could also be extended to cover AMP9.
Have selected five contractors for its AMP8 framework for medium non-infrastructure works. The contractors that have won a place on the £600m framework are;
Thames Water has appointed six contractors on the first lot of winners made public under its Waste Network Services framework.
The £139m Lot 5 deal covers high value proactive and reactive emergency repairs on both the gravity and pressurised wastewater network across the Thames Water Utilities operations area. The six winners are;
The deal runs for a minimum of five years with an option to extend for a further three years.
Have named five partners on new frameworks to help improve delivery of capital investment projects.
Stantec and Jacobs were named as NWG’s new strategic technical partners, as well as lead commercial consultants Turner & Townsend, with support from Aqua Consultants and Long O’Donnell Associates.
Have awarded £208m worth of contracts to two companies for the creation of a flagship reservoir in South Hampshire, which will hold 8.7 billion litres of water once completed in 2029.
The £167m contract to build the Havant Thicket Reservoir was awarded to to Future Water MJJV Limited and a further £41m was awarded to Ward & Burke Construction Limited, who will create a tunnelled pipeline.
Four partners have been selected to join Network Rail’s Works Delivery team in forming an innovative, performance-based enterprise model to deliver the Southern Region’s up-to £9 billion estimated renewals portfolio over the next ten years. These four partners will include;
These partners will cover for the period of Control Period 7 (2024-2029) and Control Period 8 (2029-34).
The Southern Region is also in the process of tendering for 16 contractors for a new minor works framework. The deadline has passed for requests to participate, with invitations to tender expected to go out in the summer.
The North West and Central region has divided its capital delivery works into categories A to D. Category A is a £490M framework for large works, B is a £695M framework for medium projects, C is £358M and for small to medium projects and D is a £229M framework for minor works and reactive response service. Categories B to D are currently in live procurement, with contract awards expected in the autumn. Category A has only had a PIN issued, but the opportunity is expected to be opened very shortly, with a contract award expected in early 2024.
The Eastern region had a false start in its procurement for CP7, having started the process of establishing a £4bn renewals and minor enhancements framework last April, only to then cancel it. It has in the last few weeks launched the tender process for its Eastern Routes Partnership framework, worth £3.5bn. Network Rail is currently engaging in briefings for interested contractors and the deadline for expressions of interest is 2 June. It is expected that invitations to tender will be sent at the end of July.
Despite the pause on work on parts of HS2 announced last month, HS2 has said it will be holding market engagement events this summer as it will be releasing contracts including some related to highway works and associated ancillary packages, such as surfacing, kerbing and paving.
There will also be new contract opportunities for earthworks, minor civils and road works within the urban realm.
The Phase 1 rail systems contracts, which are currently in evaluation, are predicted to be announced early next year, although the HS2 website is still showing an award date of Q2 2023.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) appointed Atkins, supported by sub consultants RPS, to deliver the detailed design for the advance works programme for Dublin MetroLink project.
Tenders are also in for the Client Partner contract which is currently being evaluated and expected to be let later this year.
Following the order secured last year to build and supply 30 Class 99 bi-mode Co’Co locomotives, Stadler has signed a contract with GB Railfreight to provide full service for this rolling stock. Stadler will be responsible for all aspects of service and maintenance of the 30 Class 99 bi-mode locomotives.
Great Western Railway (GWR), Eversholt Rail, and Hitachi Rail have announced an extension of their maintenance partnership. Worth over £300 million, the contract extension is to maintain the GWR West of England fleet of 36 Class 802 Intercity Express Trains until 2028.
Have won a number of packages to deliver critical energy infrastructure for key energy Distribution Network Operators and renewable energy companies. The contracts successfully secured include:
Five firms have won a place on the asset health framework potentially worth hundreds of millions of pounds over the RIIO T2 and T3 investment programmes. The five firms selected for the long-term deal are:
Following a market engagement exercise earlier this year, NGET is preparing and finalising procurement documents for the New Infrastructure Onshore Delivery Programme (NIODP), with the expected launch of the qualification process being late May/early June 2023.
Have begun the race to find four key infrastructure partners as part of the ongoing procurement shake-up at the nuclear decommissioning site.
The new model will replace the present Infrastructure Services Alliance with Morgan Sindall and Arup with a new overseeing team. The organisational shake-up will see a new overall strategic partner appointed, who will be supported by three key delivery partners covering specific electrical distribution, utilities, and civils disciplines.
Firms selected for the new Infrastructure Delivery Partnership will oversee a £2bn-3bn programme of projects at the nuclear site over 15 years.
SSE Renewables has awarded Fugro a ground investigation contract for its Coire Glas hydro pumped storage scheme located in the Great Glen, Scotland.
The selection of the preferred civils tenderer, who will work with the chosen mechanical and electrical tenderer to construct Coire Glas on a turnkey basis, is scheduled for autumn 2023.
Have formalised a £1.3billion contract with Siemens Gamesa for 95 wind turbines for the East Anglia Three offshore windfarm. The 95 flagship 14.7MW turbines will have a combined capacity of 1,400MW, generating enough green energy to meet the annual demand of 1.3million homes.
Milestone Infrastructure has been awarded Suffolk County Council’s new highways services contract worth up to £1bn. The contract will last up to 20 years and Milestone will replace current incumbent Kier in October.
Marlborough Highways and FM Conway have each obtained £53.6m multi-year contracts from the London Borough of Camden for road maintenance and improvements. Marlborough Highways will cover the north of the borough and FM Conway the south. The five-year contract will begin on 1 April with an option to extend it for another three years.
Galliford Try has been appointed to an £85m contract with Leicestershire County Council to build the new North East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road.
Have announced the 12 approved contractors who will be working on highways, maintenance and infrastructure projects within the county from 1 April 2023.
Last year Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP) were awarded the council’s Term Maintenance Contract and the Term Consultancy Contract was awarded to Atkins. The 12 newly-appointed contractors will work alongside BBLP and Atkins to carry out the works needed, under new Framework 1 and Framework 2 contracts which will run for a period of four years. The full list can be found here.
A landmark contract for the defence estate has been signed, signalling the start of a new delivery alliance for the Ministry of Defence and seven major contractors. The selected partners will deliver the £5.1bn defence estate optimisation programme. They are: Galliford Try, ISG, Graham, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Lendlease Construction and Morgan Sindall.
Kier, Tilbury Douglas and Morgan Sindall have each scooped four spots on the Southern Construction Framework (SCF Construct) for the South West, the South East and London, which cover work worth more than £4m each. The trio also took spots on a £1m-£5m job lot covering the south-west of England. The framework replaces a £5.25bn four-year iteration that ends this year. The full list can be found here.
The framework is a joint initiative between Hampshire County Council and Devon County Council and can be used by all public bodies across the South of England.
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: May 19th 2023
You need to make a change to your senior team.
That’s a big deal. Finding time to commit to thoroughly searching the market, screening candidates, and uncovering that unicorn that will enhance your business is tough.
So maybe you’re considering working with an Executive Search partner?
That’s also a big step. Especially if you haven’t worked with one before. You really need to be sure that you’re working with someone that really gets what you are looking for.
In early conversations with prospective clients, there are 5 questions we are often asked:
Not an easy task in our sectors, but one that we pride ourselves on working really hard to achieve. We will always review your brief to highlight areas that will need flexing to attract a more diverse talent pool.
There are lots of options and we can work together to find an answer that suits your role.
If you haven’t had to recruit for this role in a while (or ever) then knowing what salary is going to attract the right calibre of candidate can be a big ask.
Chances are, we have spoken before with a lot of candidates that fit your brief and will be able to provide you an accurate salary benchmark.
If we think what you are asking is unrealistic, then we can work on the brief to find candidates that fit your budget.
Are your competitors looking for similar roles? How big is the talent pool?
We have successfully completed over 600 executive search assignments. So, there is a good chance that we have a decent amount of experience finding candidates just like the one you need.
This question is crucial.
If you are going to work with an Executive Search partner, they need to understand your business. They need to know the good and the not so good.
This is for two reasons:
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director
Published: April 28th 2023
45 world records were set in the London marathon earlier this month, including fastest marathon dressed in pyjamas, fastest marathon dressed as a savoury food, and fastest marathon dressed as a Christmas cracker.
In Transport & infrastructure, HS2 paused works around Euston and Smart Motorways were called off, but it’s still a hive of activity for this months’ movers and shakers…
Has confirmed the appointment of three new Directors in the Wales & Western region.
Nick Millington has moved into the permanent role of Route Director on the Wales and Borders route, Marcus Jones has been appointed as the new Route Director for the Western route, leaving MTR Elizabeth Line. Sophie Bancroft takes on the role of Operations Director, also for the Western route.
Andrew Jones joins as Planning and Consenting – Senior Director. He leaves AECOM where he was Head of Cities, UK & Europe.
Richard Bonner also takes up the role of Market Director for the buildings and places team, leaving Arcadis.
Have appointed Robert Noden as its Strategy and Growth Director for its environment, water and energy (EWE) business line in Europe and India. Noden leaves GHD where he was Sector Leader, Environment – EMEA.
Have appointed Andrew Chaney as Commercial Director for its Built Environment Division, reporting to Vince Corrigan. He joins from Laing O’Rourke, where he has worked for over 25 years.
Edward Bunn has joined as Commercial Director, leaving Skanska where he has been for the past 8 years, most recently as Commercial Director Projects.
Have appointed Sarah Staunton as Operations Director – Water & Environment. Staunton returns to Skanska following 2 years at Laing O’Rourke.
Have welcomed Rashid Wahidi as a Principal Consultant. Wahidi has over 40 years’ experience in the rail industry with infrastructure providers, transport consultancy, railways, and rolling stock organisations.
Have appointed Ben Hull as its National Education Director. Hull formerly served as Regional Design and Planning Manager for Yorkshire and the North East in a career spanning more than two decades with the company.
Richard Wilkinson has joined as Civils and Structures Director. Wilkinson leaves Laing O’Rourke where he has been since 1992, most recently as Operations Delivery Leader.
Katy Dowding will take over as new President and CEO of Skanska UK next week following the news that current incumbent Gregor Craig is set to retire. Dowding has been at Skanska for 20 years most recently as a member of Skanska UK’s Executive Management Team and since 2017 as Executive Vice President with responsibility for Skanska UK’s building and building services businesses.
Kevin Fowlie has joined as Managing Director – Water. He leaves United Utilities where he has been since 2019, most recently as Commercial, Engineering & Capital Delivery Director.
Simon Arnott moves internally to become new Managing Director for the North West. He replaces Barry Roberts who is stepping down after nearly 18 years with the business. Arnott joined Morgan Sindall 9 years ago and has been part of the leadership team at Morgan Sindall Construction for the past five years.
Two senior Directors are leaving the business. Alison Cox, Managing Director for London is leaving to take a role at Cambridge University.
Ian Cheung the Managing Director of its Southern business is leaving after seven years with the firm.
Sam Farthing moves internally to become Practice Director. He joined F+G in 2021 as Regional Director.
Sarah Peterson, has joined the mechanical and electrical engineering consultancy as a Director to drive forward the route to net zero and sustainability for its clients. The Chair of ACE Scotland, has built a 20-year career in engineering, latterly spending 8 years as a Director at Harley Haddow, the multidisciplinary engineering practice.
Kevin Storey has been appointed as new Operations Director responsible for overseeing the day to day running of services on the network. Storey moves internally from his previous role as Head of Operations Delivery.
Iain Conn has been announced as the new Chair of EngineeringUK, taking over from Malcolm Brinded on 1 October 2023. Conn’s career includes 34 years’ executive experience in the energy sector at BP and Centrica.
Author: Jim Newsom
Managing Director