Severfield appoints new CEO

Paul McNerney

McNerney will succeed Alan Dunsmore, who stepped down as Severfield’s CEO by mutual consent on 30 June 2025. Since then, the company was helmed on an interim basis by Rob Evans, divisional managing director for its Commercial & Industrial division, and chief financial officer Adam Semple.

McNerney has more than 25 years’ leadership experience in construction and engineering, most recently as director for clients and government at Laing O’Rourke. His previous roles at the contractor include managing director of its UK construction business, Select Plant Hire, Explore Manufacturing, and Crown House Technologies.

At Laing O’Rourke, he led a £1.3 billion (US$1.8 billion) business delivering projects in sectors such as stadia, healthcare, life sciences, data centres, aviation and mixed-use developments, and worked on schemes including the Oxford University Humanities campus and Everton’s new stadium; both involving Severfield. His international work includes setting up infrastructure operations in New South Wales, Australia, and entering new oil and gas markets.

Severfield said McNerney is a chartered surveyor and sits on the CBI UK Competitiveness Committee and the Liverpool–Manchester Railway Partnership Board.

Company chair Charlie Cornish said, “His blend of strategic acumen, operational delivery, particularly in construction, and international perspective, along with his proven ability to lead transformation, makes him an ideal choice to lead the group through its rebuilding process to the next phase of its growth and innovation.”

In its year to March 2025, Severfield swung from an underlying pre-tax profit of £36.5 million ($50 million) in 2024 to an underlying profit of £18.1 million ($25 million), and reported a statutory pre-tax loss of £17.5 million ($24 million), along with net debt increasing to £43.1 million ($58 million).

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