Movers and shakers: Biggest construction and engineering appointments in November 2023

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A round up of the biggest moves and appointments during October follows below. To feature on next month’s appointments roundup email robert.hakimian@emap.com.

Balfour promotes HS2 director

Balfour Beatty has announced that Nigel Russell, currently project director at Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra JV’s HS2 Old Oak Common station, will be promoted to HS2 major projects chief executive officer, effective from 1 January. Russell will will be responsible Balfour Beatty’s HS2 interests and will lead the delivery of Balfour Beatty Vinci JV’s HS2 Area North contracts, including any future package of works along this route, as well as the HS2 Old Oak Common station project.

He has been with Balfour Beatty since joining in 1981 as a graduate engineer on the M25 Yeovney to Poyle project and has since directed several high profile and complex multidisciplinary transport projects in the road and rail sectors.

New managing director at Costain Transportation

Jonathan Willcock is the new managing director of Costain’s Transportation division. He moves over from Skanska UK’s infrastructure division where he worked to increase revenue and market share in sectors including highways and rail. Prior to that, he spent seven years as the managing director of Alstom Transport UK’s Systems, Signalling and Infrastructure division.

AtkinsRéalis fills new chief digital officer role

Darren Martin has joined AtkinsRéalis in the newly created role of chief digital officer. He will be responsible for building the firm’s global digital strategy to transform the core business and offer new digital services to its customers. He joins AtkinsRéalis from McKinsey, where he was chief technology officer for the firm’s Capital Excellence – Operations practice. Previously, he was CTO at engineering and construction consultancy Wood PLC and head of digital solutions for Jacobs.

Turner & Townsend strengthens UK sustainability team

Turner & Townsend has made three appointments to its UK sustainability team.

Qian Li has moved from Cundall to become head of carbon accounting. His previous work has seen him develop the world’s leading whole life carbon frameworks and lead work on the Whole Life-Cycle Carbon Assessment guidance for the new London Plan.

Sara Ferretti has joined associate director to strengthen Turner & Townsend UK’s greenhouse gas accounting and reporting team. She was previously specialist consultant at Aardvark EM where she led the London office and established the firm’s carbon and compliance offer.

Additionally, Simon Earles has been appointed project director. He brings sector-specialist knowledge in major infrastructure programmes, most recently in aviation. Simon was previously planning and Sustainability Director at Bristol Airport, and before that held a similar role at Heathrow.

Former Buckingham boss joins Keltbray

Simon Walkley has been appointed Keltbray managing director for rail in the Infrastructure Services division. He joins from the collapsed Buckingham Group, where he was group managing director and previously rail director.

Late chair’s daughter takes the reins at FM Conway

FM Conway has named Joanne Conway as its new CEO and executive group chair. Conway has worked for the business for 21 years across a number of roles and in recent years, she has been the managing director of the firm’s aggregates and asphalt division. She is granddaughter of the company’s founder Frank Conway and daughter of its former chair Michael Conway.

Top (L-R): Justin Lowe, Nigel Russell, Joanna Conway, Richard Wilkinson
Bottom (L-R): Lucy Davies, Stephen Walkley, Jonathan Willcock, Darren Martin

Sisk strengthens UK South board

Justin Lowe has been appointed to John Sisk & Son’s UK South Board as operations director. Lowe has over 35 years of experience in the construction industry, mostly in the central London market with a Tier 1 contractor. He is also a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Building.

McGee hires first operations director and restructures leadership team

McGee has appointed Richard Wilkinson to its newly created role of operations director as part of a restructure of its leadership team. Wilkinson brings with him extensive background in delivering major infrastructure projects, most recently at Hinkley Power Station as operations lead for Laing O’Rourke’s Expanded Structures.

The firm has also made three further appointments to its senior leadership team. Wendy Myddleton has been promoted to people director, James Simpson is now construction engineering director and Michael O’brien is support services director.

Bevan White remains McGee’s finance director but is now also a board director. Vivienne Inmonger will take over the role of company secretary and will hold the role of general counsel for the Group, joining the senior management team.

Triplet appointed to Rail Freight Group board

The Rail Freight Group (RFG) has appointed Sabrina Meksaoui, Alex Kirk and Lee Armstrong to its board.

Meksaoui is currently chief revenue officer at Everysens, a European tech company that digitises rail freight operations. She has also spent more than a decade working in business development, marketing and customer relations across three continents.

Kirk is the head of infrastructure and HS2 at GB Railfreight (GBRf). He has worked in railways since joining Network Rail as a graduate and in his role at GBRf he manages contracts with infrastructure managers, oversees the supply chain and manages HS2 construction traffic.

Armstrong is group head of commercial at Associated British Ports, having joined the company as group head of commercial rail in 2020. He has over two decades’ experience in operational and commercial roles and has worked in the railway sector for over 35 years.

Global stations head at Aecom

Aecom has appointed Kristopher Takácsas as its global head of stations and transit-oriented development for its Building and Places business line. He will be responsible for spearheading the growth of Aecom Buildings and Places’ design practice in the rail and transit sectors. Takácsas has worked on transport developments around the world and is a respected architect and urbanist.

Ramboll appoints new head of UK Aviation

Patrick Folley has been appointed as Ramboll UK head of aviation. He joins from Jacobs where he was director of operations for aviation. He brings with him a breadth of experience accrued over 25 years in the industry, having worked on projects in over 60 countries across the globe including the UK, United States, South Africa, India, Japan and Brazil.

Social value director for Tilbury Douglas

Tilbury Douglas has appointed Lucy Davies as social value and sustainability director, stepping up from her role as head of social value. She has over 15 years of experience in construction and in her new role will drive the business’ People, Planet, Performance (PPP) Strategy.

To support this, Tilbury Douglas has also appointed Laura Marshall as social value co-ordinator and Lanre Oluborode as sustainability advisor.

New Ofgem chair

Mark McAllister has been confirmed as the new chair of energy regulator Ofgem. He brings with him over 40 years of experience in the energy industry and arrives as Ofgem is looking to reform the UK energy market. He will work closely with the government to support more households to move towards cleaner, cheaper energy generated in the UK.

Former IPA director joins Ofwat board

Helen Campbell has been appointed to the Ofwat board. Campbell, who was previous director at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, joins the water regulator as senior director for sector performance. She will lead on improving water company performance and corporate behaviour, as well as driving innovation across the sector.

AtkinsRéalis director joins Constructionarium

AtkinsRéalis transformation director Rami Mansour has joined the board of Constructionarium, a unique learning provider for students studying, and employees working, across the built environment sector. Mansour’s experience in the sector will bolster Constructionarium’s mission to innovate and enhance construction education.

NNL appoints new science and tech officer

Gareth Headdock is the new chief science and technology officer at National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). He will join the executive leadership team and take responsibility for shaping and leading delivery of NNL’s science and technology strategy.

Trio of senior appointments at Core Highways

Core Highwats Group has made a trio of appointments to its leadership team.

Jenny Moten joins as regional managing director from Cadent Gas where she held the role of Northwest network director and oversaw £2.5bn of assets. She has also been business director at Amey.

Charlie Cornish joins as group chairman. He has previously held management and senior roles at companies including West of Scotland Water, Thames Water, United Utilities, Manchester Airport Group Plc, Plessey Telecommunications, British Aerospace and ABF.

The company has also promoted Dan East from commercial director at Group company Amberon Traffic Management to his new role as win work director at Core Highways. He has been with the company since 2006.

New CFO at design software specialist

Lisa VanPatten has been appointed chief financial officer at Transcend, a leading SaaS provider of generative design tools for critical infrastructure. She will drive strategic initiatives and lead financial strategies following the company’s $20M (£15.8M) Series B funding round.

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