Movers and shakers: biggest construction and engineering appointments in September 2022

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

TfL appoints interim commissioner 

Current chief operating officer Andy Lord will take on the role of TfL commissioner on an interim basis, following Andy Byford's resignation.

Lord joined TfL in 2019 as managing director of the London Underground. Earlier this year, he was promoted to chief operating officer, responsible for the safe, reliable and effective operation of TfL’s entire rail services, which include London Underground and the Elizabeth line, along with London's strategic road network, bus services, cycle hire, river services, London Cable Car and trams.

As managing director of London Underground, Lord led the transport network's operational response to the Covid pandemic, ensuring London Underground and other TfL services kept running for key workers. He has been responsible for the safe and reliable introduction of Elizabeth line services, the Northern line extension, the upgraded Bank station, the extension of London Overground to Barking Riverside, and the completion of the automation of the Circle line.

Before TfL, Lord spent nearly 30 years in the commercial aviation sector, including 26 years at British Airways that culminated as director of operations for just over seven years.

Former National Highways boss joins Balfour

Balfour Beatty has announced the appointment of Peter Mumford as managing director of its UK Construction Regional Civils business unit in England and Wales, responsible for providing strategic leadership to the business’ portfolio of regional civil engineering projects across England and Wales.

Mumford joins Balfour Beatty from National Highways where he was executive director of Major Projects and Capital Portfolio Management, leading the delivery of the UK government’s £27bn Road Investment Strategy as well as providing leadership across key strategic areas such as net zero carbon, biodiversity net gain, social value and diversity and inclusion.

Prior to that, Mumford held a number of significant industry leadership positions including vice president at the global consultancy HKA and senior director at Aecom.

Jacobs announces new chief executive

Jacobs current president and chief operating officer Bob Pragada will take up the role of chief executive in the new year.

Pragada will succeed current chief executive Steve Demetriou, effective 24 January 2023. Demetriou will continue as executive chair of the board of directors, after serving seven years as chief executive.

Pragada joined Jacobs in 2006, holding several senior management positions over nine years. He returned to Jacobs in 2016 as president of the global Industrial and Buildings & Infrastructure lines of business, and in 2019, Pragada was appointed president and chief operating officer of Jacobs.

New CEO for Cowi

Jens Højgaard Christoffersen is set to take over as Group chief executive of Cowi, succeeding Lars-Peter Søbye, who has decided to step down.

Christoffersen will be given the overall reins of a company geared for global growth when he assumes the position as Group chief executive on 1 October. He is currently a member of the Executive Board as chief business development officer.

Former SSE chief joins Cowi

Former SSE executive Jim Smith has joined Cowi as renewable energy ambassador. Smith recently retired as managing director of SSE Renewables and has more than 30 years’ experience in several senior roles in power generation development, construction, operations and trading in the UK and Ireland’s electricity industry.

Smith will fulfil this part-time role at Cowi, taking part in industry events, meeting customers, and acting as an adviser to the energy team.

Costain makes Board appointment

Costain has announced that Kate Rock will be appointed to the Board on 1 November 2022 as an independent non-executive director and chair designate and will assume the role of chair from 1 December 2022.

Rock will also be appointed to the Nomination Committee of the Board on 1 November 2022 and will become chair of that committee on 1 December 2022 when she assumes the role of chair of the Board.

Since 2020, Rock has been senior independent director of Keller Group, having been appointed a non-executive director in 2018. She is a senior adviser at Instinctif Partners, an international business communications consultancy, and previously a managing partner of its predecessor College Hill Associates. She is also, until January 2023, a Member of the House of Lords Select Committee for Science and Technology. Rock is a non-executive director of Unbound Group, an AIM listed company and was previously a non-executive director of Imagination Technologies.

Motts appoints new technical director 

Mott MacDonald has appointed David Bullick as technical director for pipelines and networks in its UK water consultancy business. As part of an expanding team based in Birmingham, Bullick will provide technical leadership across the team supporting clients in their live efforts to deliver complex water supply and distribution programmes effectively and efficiently.

Bullick is an acknowledged industry expert having spent more than 25 years working with multiple water companies and their suppliers both in the UK and internationally in a range of consulting and assurance roles.  With a broad water supply and distribution background, he has a particular focus on the analysis and management of large diameter pipelines, aqueducts and strategic networks throughout their asset lifecycle

His recent project highlights include Anglian Water’s Strategic Pipelines Programme, where he first led a multi-disciplinary feasibility team to develop the initial Water Resource Management Plan strategy into a robust conceptual design for the 400km large diameter strategic mains network.  Latterly, he supported its ongoing delivery as optioneering lead.

New finance boss for Skanska

Meliha Duymaz has joined Skanska UK as chief financial officer and executive vice president. Meliha is an established finance leader with a breadth of experience across services, operations and major construction projects and will report to president and chief executive Gregor Craig.

Duymaz joins Skanska UK from Network Rail, where she was finance director for the eastern region running from London to Scotland, its largest regional business with 10,000 employees. In this role she has overseen a significant portion of Network Rail’s investment budget in multi-billion-pound programmes and projects. Prior to this, Duymaz served as managing director for the Anglia Route, leading multifunctional teams responsible for infrastructure management and service delivery for some of the most intensely operated rail routes into London.

Before joining Network Rail in 2012, she worked for a diverse range of organisations including Serco and Huntsworth.

Former Bam chief joins Robertson

Former executive director of Bam Construction Doug Keillor has joined Robertson Group.

Keillor has been appointed executive managing director of Robertson Construction Group, part of Robertson Group. He joins Robertson following 32 years with Bam, latterly as the executive director for Bam Construct and Bam Construction.

Offshore wind hire for WSP

WSP has appointed Nicola Riley as its new head of offshore wind.

With over 20 years’ experience in offshore wind development and asset management, Riley’s appointment will drive WSP’s Energy business to expand its existing offshore wind capability.

Riley will focus on building upon WSP’s multi-disciplinary offshore wind capabilities to enable clients to support the Government in achieving this ambition. This will include working with clients to leverage adjacent and emerging technologies, including High Voltage DC connectivity, hydrogen and energy storage to unlock the potential of offshore wind.

Two new hires for Tilbury Douglas

Tilbury Douglas has appointed Barry O’Hagan as operations director for Scotland.

With 25 years’ experience in the construction industry, having managed main contractor and subcontractor firms, O’Hagan will bring with him his wealth of expertise. Having developed his career in operations, O’Hagan has experience of working throughout the UK in a variety of sectors including residential, education, retail, leisure, transport, commercial, industrial, scientific, sports, nuclear and defence projects.

The firm has also announced the appointment of Roxann Dawson as business assurance director.

With more than 20 years of experience, most recently as head of quality assurance at Network Rail, Dawson has a proven track record of certification, deployment, leadership, competence, management systems and risk based auditing as part of strategy and performance that informs organisational culture.

Bachy Soletanche appoints new MD

Bachy Soletanche has appointed Tamás Kaltenbacher as its new managing director. Kaltenbacher joins Bachy Soletanche in the UK from Hungarian sister company HBM, where he has been managing director for the past six years.

He has worked for Soletanche Bachy for 17 years, with spells in the USA and France as well as central Europe. Throughout his career, Kaltenbacher has been active in the Hungarian construction industry, as a board member of the geotechnical department of the Chamber of Engineers and as president of the Hungarian Association of Foundation Contractors. He has also represented the Hungarian federation in the European Federation of Foundation Contractors.

Arcadis boosts sustainability team

Arcadis has announced three senior sustainability advisory appointments across the globe, demonstrating the company’s prioritisation of sustainable solutions for clients.

Jane Boyle has joined as sustainability advisory practice lead in the UK & Ireland, while Michelle Bachir has joined in the same role in North America. Kealy Herman joins as global technical director for net zero strategy, residing in the United States.

An accomplished sustainability professional, Boyle joins Arcadis from Jones Lang LaSalle in the UK, where she held the role of sustainability director. Prior to that position, she held roles in energy and sustainability at the University of Aberdeen, where she facilitated the development of a net zero strategy in line with climate science, as well as positions at Dubai Airports, EY and Buro Happold.

Bachir brings experience leading multidisciplinary teams delivering sustainability services across private sector clients. Most recently, she was a senior manager at Deloitte, supporting growth of sustainability advisory services for the company’s US business, in particular, climate risk and sustainability reporting services. Prior to Deloitte, she held positions at EcoSecurities International and Ecodit.

Herman joins Arcadis from Google, where she was lead for supply chain climate strategy. At Google, she developed a comprehensive strategy to achieve net zero emissions in Google’s supply chain by 2030. She also founded a cross-functional working group to collaborate on innovative sustainable procurement mechanisms. Prior to Google, she held senior positions at WSP, leading energy, carbon, and supply chain client projects for clients in technology, financial services, and manufacturing.

New CBI London Council chair

Peter Hogg FRICS is taking over the role of chair of the CBI’s London Council this autumn, succeeding Judith Everett, who has held the role for the past two years. Hogg is a partner at Arcadis, where he is London City executive.

He has spent his entire career in business and has worked for SMEs, large private partnerships and publicly-quoted global businesses, giving him a wide perspective on businesses, the challenges they face and the role that organisations like the CBI play in linking business to government.

Hogg is a Chartered Building Surveyor by profession and a passionate urbanist. His 30-year career has been spent planning, delivering and operating the assets that make cities perform not just spatially but socially and economically.

Glas Cymru appoints director

Glas Cymru, the not-for-profit company which owns Welsh Water, has announced that Lila Thompson has joined the Board as a on-executive director.

Thompson has over 20 years of international experience in the infrastructure, healthcare, and water industries. She is currently the chief executive of British Water which represents the interests of UK water and wastewater supply chain companies through three forums, connecting them to contacts to raise their profile, grow their business, and promote best practice. Its fourth Water Industry Forum provides challenge-led, independent thought leadership, to tackle the challenges facing the sector.

New hire for Glencar

Glencar has announced that it has hired Mark Green into the role of operations director. Green will be based at Glencar’s expanding Midlands office based in Solihull, Birmingham.

Green joins from construction services company ISG after more than 21 years with the business. He initially started out at ISG Pearce as operations manager and more latterly held the position of divisional operations director based in Bristol, where he was also account lead for Tesco.

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