Movers and shakers: Biggest construction and engineering appointments in November 2022

November has seen executive level changes at Amey, Mott MacDonald and Royal HaskoningDHV – a full round-up is below. To feature on next month’s appointments roundup email robert.hakimian@emap.com.

Amey chief exec to stand down

Amey chief executive Amanda Fisher will step down when the business transfers to its new owners. Ferrovial reached an agreement to Buckthorn/One Equity Partners for £400M in October. Completion of the deal is subject to regulatory clearances but is expected to finish before the end of the year.

Mott MacDonald makes a host of appointments

Thomas Knight has been appointed as Mott MacDonald development director for its UK and Europe transport business. Knight joined Mott MacDonald as an industrial apprentice and has worked in the UK, Ecuador and Australia on major transport projects. His new role will see him focus on bringing technical excellence to clients, supporting the consultancy’s account leadership programme and external client engagement.

Meanwhile, Steve Bungay has taken up the role of technical director for wastewater process emissions. He brings with him more than 30 years of experience of working in water quality, wastewater and sludge treatment.

Mott MacDonald has also appointed Bob Fryatt as international health lead, where e will work on developing stronger, more resilient health systems around the world. In his 30 years’ experience, Fryatt has worked in public health in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.

Duo of directors brought onboard at Transport for the North

The Transport for the North (TfN) board has agreed to appoint Paul Kelly as finance director and Katie Day as strategy, policy and communications director.

Kelly is currently interim finance director and will become permanent finance director from mid-December. His previous role was Transport for Greater Manchester head of financial and commercial for Metrolink and he has over 25 years’ experience in commercial, financial and operational services.

Set to start in her new role in February, Day brings with her over 20 years of working in public bodies and central government, most notably as the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy head of operations for the Regional Growth Fund. She is currently Office for Nuclear Regulation director of policy and communications.

Global Centre of Rail Excellence continues to grow

Wales’ Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) has kicked things up a notch with three new directorial appointments.

Gail Hawthorne has been brought on board as a non-executive director, bringing with her a wealth of experience as a commercial lawyer and barrister including work as interim group legal counsel for Scottish Water.

ICE fellow Simon Blanchflower CBE has also been made a non-executive director after retiring as chief executive of East West Rail Company earlier this year.

Rob Thompson has moved from operations director at Celtic Energy to become director of implementation at GCRE.

Laing snaps up young talent

Chetan Kotur has been appointed as Laing O’Rourke head of technology and innovation. Kotur was named Young Engineer of the Year in 2018 by the Royal Academy of Engineering and has been working as head of products for Asia Pacific at the electric performance car brand Polestar in recent years. Kotur will help to further Laing’s focus on the development and deployment of new technologies with the potential to transform construction productivity and deliver improvements to project programme, quality, safety and sustainability.

Royal HaskoningDHV adds two new global directors

Sabine Bink will join Dutch company Royal HaskoningDHV as global director industry and buildings from 1 December. She has been promoted from her current role in the company as director project management and consultancy multinationals where she has been leading a team on global projects.

Starting in January, Jon Robinson will be Royal HaskoningDHV global director water and maritime. He will be joining from Aecom where he is head of water sector, Europe.

Top L-R: Chetan Kotur, Paul Kelly, Katie Day, Sabine Bink
Bottom L-R: Jon Robinson, Thomas Knight, Steve Bungay, Gus Wright

Five new faces at Mineral Products Association

The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has been bolstered by five new appointments who collectively bring over 100 years of experience.

Jon Flitney is MPA Cement’s new energy and climate change manager, moving across from the British Ceramic Confederation.

Michael Conroy will bring over 20 years of experience in the mineral products industry to his new role as MPA Cement environment, safety and regulation affairs manager.

Chartered civil engineer Liam Forde has joined from Bam, taking up the role of BRMCA/MPa Ready mixed Concrete construction manager.

Steve Callow has left his role as Marshalls specification manager to become MPA masonry and concrete products manager.

Finally, Mike Haynes has joined MPA as British Lime Association director, bringing experience from 18 years in the lime industry working in the sales and customer services teams responsible for construction and civil engineering markets and progressing to managing the customer services team.

Kier brings in new regional director

Kier has appointed Gus Wright as regional director for its London business, specifically focusing on the commercial market. He will begin the new job in January, taking on responsibility for the operational delivery of Kier’s commercial and residential projects across London. He brings over 30 years of experience in construction, having held senior roles at Laing O’Rourke, Mace and Ardmore Group.

New director role at Keltbray

Tim Lohmann has been appointed by Keltbray in the newly-created role of group director of strategic engineering, where he will work on the delivery of transformational engineering solutions for clients. Lohmann has worked across civil engineering disciplines and as been instrumental in growing Wentworth House Partnership, Keltbray’s in-house design business, into one of the UK’s leading specialist engineering design houses.

Arup internally appoints new Belfast office leader

David Algie has been made Belfast office leader for Arup. He is an associate director and chartered engineer who has worked for Arup for over 15 years, and in his career has worked on and led a wide range of projects in Europe, the Middle East and Australasia.

Confederation of British Industry appoints new chair of infrastructure council

Denise Bower OBE has been appointed as the chair of the infrastructure council at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Bower is Mott MacDonald executive board director and professor in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds, and has previously held the role of executive director of the Major Projects Association. She has also previously been a member of the UK’s Infrastructure Client Group and has worked closely with the UK Government’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority to improve the preparation and delivery of major schemes.

Eddisons makes trio of transport appointments

Eddisons property group has made three new appointments to expand its Manchester-based transport planning and highway design consultancy. Harry Lo has joined from Mott Macdonald Honk Kong as a graduate engineer, Genna Woods has joined the planning team as a trainee technician and Lucy Gretton has also returned to Eddisons, where she spent a placement year as part of her Manchester University human geography degree, rejoining the planning team as a graduate transport planner.

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