Kier chief executive to step down

UK contractor Kier has announced that Paul Sheffield will step down as chief executive, effective from 30 June. Group finance director Haydn Mursell will take over the role.

Kier chairman Phil White said, “I would like to express our thanks to Paul for his long- serving commitment to Kier. He joined Kier in 1983 and his contribution over 30 years with the Group has been considerable, most recently guiding the acquisition and integration of May Gurney. After a handover period, Paul will leave with our very best wishes for the future.”

“I am delighted to announce the appointment of Haydn Mursell as chief executive of Kier. Haydn has done an excellent job as finance director since joining the Group in 2010 and has demonstrated that he is the right person to take over from Paul. We are looking forward to working with Haydn.”

Mr Sheffield added, “Since I joined Kier in 1983, the Group has grown enormously, both in scale and the services it offers. I’m very proud of what we have accomplished, but feel it is now the right time to transition the leadership of the Group. I know that Haydn will do an excellent job leading Kier in the next phase of its development and I wish him every success in his new role.”

Kier is the UK’s 8^th largest contractor and Europe’s 47^th largest according to Construction Europe’s CE-100 ranking of the region’s largest construction companies. It’s acquisition of May Gurney last year is expected to move it into the European top 40 and perhaps the UK top 5 when this year’s CE-100 is published in the July-August edition of the magazine.