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

A round up of the biggest moves and appointments during December is below. To feature on next month’s appointments roundup email [email protected].

New CFO at Mace

Mace has appointed David Allen as its new chief financial officer. He arrives from UK construction, development and property services company Wates, where he was chief executive. He was previously chief financial officer at Wates and was chief financial officer for Crossrail for almost seven years prior to that. He has also previously held the finance director role at Laing O’Rourke’s European construction business and before entering construction he worked for Accenture, HSBC and Arthur Andersen.

Bam Nuttall appoints replacement for departing executive director

Bam Nuttall UK and Ireland executive director Ian Parish will depart the company at the end of 2022. He has over 38 years of experience in the industry and re-joined Bam as managing director of major projects in 2020 before taking on the role of interim managing director of the company in September 2021. He entered his current role in the newly-formed UK and Ireland division on 1 January 2022.

His replacement will be Huw Jones, who is currently managing director of Bam Nuttall’s transport sector. Jones is a chartered civil engineer who has worked at Bam since 2009. He initially joined as a project manager in the South West of England before moving on to various roles across the rail division. He subsequently became the division director for rail in 2017 before being promoted to his current role as managing director for transport in April this year.

Duo of new faces at National Highways executive team

Nicola Bell has been made executive director of major projects at National Highways, having been in this role on an interim basis since June. She was previously director of operations at National Highways’ south east region.

Richard Polley has also been made a permanent appointment to National Highways’ executive team as chief information officer. He has held this role on an interim basis since June, having previously been the roads operator’s technology programmes director.

Willmott Dixon makes two appointments to board

Willmott Dixon chief sustainability officer Julia Barrett has been promoted to the board as director responsible for sustainability and non-financial compliance. She has guided the company’s sustainability strategy over the past decade, including the aim to become a zero-carbon business by 2030. Alongside sustainability, her remit will also include being the board representative for the company’s health, safety and environment approach.

Juliette Stacey will also join the Willmott Dixon board as non-executive director. She has previously been group chief executive at Mabey and chief operating officer (UK and Europe) for Savills. She also holds non-executive director roles at Fuller, Smith & Turner and Renishaw.

Kier Construction gets new sustainability head

Anna Baker has been appointed as Kier Construction head of sustainability, building upon the Group’s newly-formed Responsible Business team. She has over 17 years in the sector and most recently was head of Careys’ sustainability team. Her role at Kier will see her take responsibility for delivering Kier Construction’s sustainability targets, including achieving new zero carbon across business operations by 2039.

EKFB board appoints new non-executive chairman

Kier Group chief executive Andrew Davies has been appointed as non-executive chairman of the EKFB (Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial, Bam Nuttall JV) board. The JV, which is one of the four main contractors on HS2, previously had Eiffage chief executive of infrastructure in the UK Olivier de Guinaumont as non-executive chairman, but his tenure is now over.

Davies will oversee EKFB’s activities on HS2, which spans from the northern end of the Chiltern Tunnel up to Long Itchington Wood, including the construction of 15 viaducts, 81 bridges and 6.9km of green tunnels.

Top L-R: Amanda Clack, Andrew Davies, Anna Delvecchio, Anna Baker
Bottom L-R: David Allen, Huw Jones, Julia Barrett, Juliette Stacey

New chief exec at the Planning Inspectorate

Following an extensive and open recruitment process, Paul Morrison has been appointed as the new chief executive of the Planning Inspectorate. He moves over from his role as director of the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Homes for Ukraine scheme. He brings with him experience of leading the government’s planning reform programme.

SSE Renewables fills new role of chief information officer

John Downes has been promoted by SSE Renewables from director of engineering for onshore wind to chief information officer. In this newly created role, Downes will be responsible for oversight of the delivery of the end-to-end technology and data and information services required as SSE Renewables continues to grow the number of renewable energy projects it is developing both in the UK and internationally.

EY installs a new partner

Ernst & Young has appointed Anna Delvecchio as a partner in its government and infrastructure consultancy practice in the UK. She will be a part of the transport team, working on behalf of EY with central government, local authorities and private sector clients, advising on largescale transport development and transformation delivery projects.

She has over 25 years of experience, having started as a 16-year-old apprentice at an electromechanical engineering company. She arrives at EY after having been a founder of the Highways Sector Council, a not-for-profit organisation established to drive collaboration between industry and government, harness latest technologies to transform UK highways and ultimately drive economic, environmental and social benefits for people across the country.

HKA appoints CEO for new EMEA region

Global consultancy in risk mitigation, dispute resolution, expert witness and litigation support services HKA has appointed Amanda Clack as regional chief executive for its new Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. She brings with her vast experience of both private and public sectors and from being appointed to numerous boards, including chair of RICS Infrastructure and Construction Market Forum and the mayor of London’s Infrastructure Advisory Panel. She was previously an executive director at CBRE.

Renowned urbanist joins BDP

David Rudlin has joined BDP as Urban Design Director and will work with the Manchester studio team, leading a team of the UK’s top urbanists in delivering global projects. Rudlin has previously been director of Urbed (Urbanism, Environment and Design) and chair of the Academy of Urbanism.

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