Key appointments strengthen 'Be the best' ambitions

Three key appointments have strengthened our bid to 'Be the best' construction services company.

John Wilkinson - Managing Director Project and Rail Engineering Services
John Wilkinson has recently been promoted to the role of Managing Director for Project and Rail Engineering Services, having previously led the sector as Operations Director.

John joined May Gurney in 2006 to deliver the High Level Bridge (HLB) refurbishment project in Newcastle upon Tyne.

In his new role John has responsibility for the sector's financial performance - and for maintaining and improving our excellent record for project delivery, customer satisfaction and safety. He's also responsible for growing the sector to ensure we meet our five-year business plan and key objective of 'Being the best'.

John says: "I'm particularly looking forward to developing the team working ethic that we successfully embraced on the HLB project - which is so important in achieving project aims and maintaining a stimulating and fulfilling environment for our employees.

"If we look after our people and work well as a team we will achieve our objectives - and our customer satisfaction and overall corporate performance will also improve."

Ian Cox - Director of Information Systems
Ian Cox joined us as Director of Information Systems (IS) on 10 March.

Ian's expertise is in delivering IS strategy. He has worked across a broad range of industries including property support services, media, automotive and electricity utilities. His recent experience includes Archant, the publishing company, and Interserve's facilities management division, where he was IT Director.

In this new role, Ian's core focus will be on leading the strategic development of IS and aligning this to our customers' needs now, and in the future.

Ian said: "I'm delighted to have joined a growing company with a good reputation and a strong vision for the future.

"Technology is an increasingly important component of the services we deliver, and my role is to develop an IS capability that sets us apart from our competitors in terms of how we operate and how we add value to our customers.

"With our 'Be the best' culture and ambitious growth plans this is a great time to join May Gurney."

David Hogg, Finance Director, Engineering & Project Services
David Hogg joined us on 31 March to take up the position of Finance Director of our Engineering & Project Services business.

Prior to joining us, David - who is a Chartered Accountant - was Divisional Finance Director of Initial Fire & Security, which was part of Rentokil until it was sold in 2007.

Prior to this he spent three years as Head of Finance at Associated British Ports, and seven years at Nationwide Accident Repair Services, where he worked his way up to become Group Finance Director.

David says: "In all my roles I've worked closely with management teams to develop and improve the business - to grow profitability and ensure the finance function is supporting the business to this end.

"I've found the people I've met at May Gurney to be welcoming and straightforward - and there are bags of opportunities to develop and grow the business.

"I particularly like the partnership approach that May Gurney has developed with lots of its customers, and have prior experience of doing the same in previous roles."