Leadership

Appointed to the Board as Group Chief Executive in January 2015

Leo Quinn was appointed to the Board of Balfour Beatty as Group Chief Executive in January 2015, returning to the company where he started his career as a civil engineer. He was educated at Portsmouth University and Imperial College, London.

Leo joined the Group following five years as Group Chief Executive of QinetiQ Group plc and five years as CEO of De La Rue plc. He led both companies through successful transformations which restored each business to strength and created over £1bn of value.

Prior to that, Leo spent almost four years headquartered in the US as COO of Invensys plc’s $3bn Production Management division. He also worked with Honeywell Inc for 16 years in various senior management roles across the US, UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, ending as Global President of H&BC Enterprise Solutions.

In 2013, Leo founded The 5% Club which encourages companies to invest in the next generation and address the national skills shortage. Its aspiration is for at least 5% of employees to constitute either apprentices, interns or graduates in formal training programmes.

A summary of the role of Group Chief Executive includes the following:

• Strategy development and the stewardship of physical, financial and human resources
• Group operational and financial performance
• Executive leadership
• Health, safety and environmental performance
• Corporate values and ethics
• Objective setting for the senior management team
• Organisational structure, succession and talent management
• Major capital expenditure prioritisation and allocation of resources
• Consideration of acquisitions, disposals and financing
• Stakeholder management.

Appointed to the Board as Chief Financial Officer in June 2015

Philip joined Balfour Beatty as CFO in June 2015. He was previously Group Finance Director at Hogg Robinson Group plc. Prior to that, he was the Group Finance Director at VT Group plc. Philip served as VP Finance at Hewlett-Packard Europe, Middle East and Africa region and was a member of the EMEA board.

His earlier career included senior international finance roles at Compaq, Rank Xerox and Texas Instruments.

Philip is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Appointed Non-executive Chairman in March 2015

He is Non-executive Chairman of Aveva Group plc and a Non-executive Director of Newcrest Mining Limited. He was a Non-executive Director of National Grid plc until February 2015, Chairman of Robert Walters plc and a Non-executive (and senior independent) Director of Kazakhmys plc and Essar Energy plc, and a senior advisor at Macquarie Bank Ltd.

Prior to that he was Group President Energy BHP Billiton and president BHP Petroleum, Chief Executive of BTR Nylex, and held senior roles in BOC Group. He has extensive international business experience in the industrials and resources sectors having worked across the UK, US, Asia and the Middle East.

A summary of the role of Chairman includes the following:

• Ensuring effective strategic planning is undertaken by the executive Directors
• Ensuring corporate governance is properly maintained
• Formally appraising the performance of the Group Chief Executive and reviewing with the Group Chief Executive his views on the performance of the other executive Directors
• Providing leadership to the Board
• Acting as senior ambassador for the Company 
• Considering Board balance, composition and succession
• Ensuring the smooth operation of the Board and its Committees
• Providing effective communication between the Board and its shareholders.

Appointed a Non-executive Director in June 2017

Barbara has over thirty years of business and management experience in the private, public and regulated sectors.

In the private sector she has held a series of strategic, commercial and finance roles, including Group Finance Director at Morgan Sindall plc, Regulatory Director at South West Water and Chief Finance Officer for two international listed IT companies.

More recently, she has been Director General at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Transport, supporting policy implementation and leading commercial projects. Her most recent executive appointment was Chief Operating Officer at Westminster City Council.

She has a portfolio of non-executive directorships including Microgen plc, IDOX plc, Agility Trains and the Lending Standards Board and is a Trustee of Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity.

Appointed a Non-executive Director in June 2015

Stephen is Non-executive Chairman of Anglian Water Group and Urenco Ltd.

He was Group Finance Director of British Energy Group plc (FTSE 100 power generator) and WS Atkins plc (FTSE 250, and UK's largest engineering consultancy) and ran Punch Taverns plc (UK's second largest pub owner) as Executive Chairman. He played instrumental roles in the financial and operational turnarounds of all three companies.

He spent 11 years with Balfour Beatty's predecessor company BICC plc.

Appointed a Non-executive Director in 2015

Stuart has over 45 years’ experience in the civil engineering, construction and infrastructure sectors, and was Chief Executive of Costain Group PLC between 2001 and 2005.  This followed executive positions in Welsh multi-utility Hyder plc, Alfred McAlpine plc and Tarmac Construction, where he represented the company on the Channel Tunnel board, following 20 years with John Laing Construction.  He has also served as a senior Non-executive Director to Scott Wilson Group plc, and as Chairman of Silverdell Plc, Somero Plc and Beck and Pollitzer Limited.

Appointed a Non-executive Director in 2010

Until 2009, he was Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle. Prior to joining Tate & Lyle in 2003, he spent 26 years at Unilever in a succession of roles culminating in his appointment as senior vice president, corporate development. He is Non-executive Chairman of Berendsen plc and Stobart Group Limited and a Non-executive Director of Greggs plc. He is also Chairman of Wilton Park, an independent and non-profit making executive agency of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and lead Independent Director at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He was formerly a Non-executive Director of Sygen International.

A summary of the role of Senior Independent Director includes the following:

• Acting as chairman of the Board if the Chairman is conflicted
• Acting as a conduit to the Board for the communication of shareholders’ concerns if other channels are not appropriate
• Ensuring that the Chairman is provided with effective feedback on his performance. 

Appointed a Non-executive Director in July 2017

Michael has worked with construction and infrastructure providers for four decades and has extensive knowledge of the US market. Michael has held a number of leadership and finance roles, including Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President at CH2M HILL and Partner and Global Leader at Ernst & Young Global LLP Infrastructure, Construction & Engineering Practice.

Latterly, he has acted as a strategic advisor to companies and private equity firms in the engineering and construction industry. 

He is currently a Consultant to the Board at Contract Land Staff LLC and an Advisory Board member at Psomas.