A senior appointment at a major civils contractor and a new regeneration role for a former Crown Estate director were the main recruitment stories this week.
Alistair Geddes
Costain announced the appointment of Alistair Geddes as its rail sector director on Monday (17 March).
The contractor said that Geddes – who is returning to Costain after 11 years at Balfour Beatty – will help support its “strategic focus on growth in strong markets”.
His appointment comes after Costain won a £400m mechanical and electrical systems contract in December for the HS2 high-speed rail project.
Geddes previously led Balfour Beatty’s rail systems business in his role as operations director since April 2023.
He managed manufacturing facilities, frameworks and projects for clients such as Network Rail, Transport for Wales and Transport for London.
His time at Balfour Beatty also included project director positions on high-profile infrastructure programmes such as Hinkley Point C and the transformation of the 2012 Olympics stadium in East London.
Geddes is no stranger to Costain, having worked for the firm as a project manager in London on Crossrail in 2013/14.
He said: “I’m looking forward to drawing on Costain’s breadth of service offerings and expertise from across the organisation to continue providing best-in-class infrastructure services to the rail industry.”
New roots for Muse
Morgan Sindall’s regeneration subsidiary Muse Developments has appointed Simon Harding-Roots as its new managing director for its Southern region.
He joins from the Crown Estate, where he was managing director for London since September 2021, overseeing an £8bn portfolio.
Harding-Roots’ CV also includes five years as executive director of major projects at Grosvenor Group.
Before then, he was chief operations officer at Imperial College London from 2012 to 2015.
Muse said Harding-Roots will be working closely with public and private sector partners, including ECF and Habiko, to drive forward mixed-use regeneration.
Through ECF, the firm is leading the delivery of Manor Road Quarter in Canning Town, London, which will provide over 800 new homes.
Safety first for Kershaw
Matthew Kershaw
Decarbonisation contractor Sustainable Building Services (SBS) has appointed Matthew Kershaw as its new head of health and safety.
With more than 17 years of experience in various health and safety roles across multiple sectors, the firm said Kershaw will bring a wealth of expertise to SBS.
Describing himself as a “jack of all trades” in safety, he has worked across diverse industries but said he is most passionate about improving communities through transformational retrofit projects.
Working closely with the senior leadership team and project managers, he aims to integrate safety into every aspect of operations to ensure safety is “blended in, not bolted on”.
“You can either see health and safety as a compliance and risk strategy, or you can see it as a people strategy,” Kershaw said.
“A strong safety culture creates not only a safer work environment, but a more supportive and productive one. This, in turn, should enhance overall wellbeing, job satisfaction, and ultimately support the growth of SBS.”
Two new signings for Scotland
Environmental design consultancy Atelier Ten has appointed two new directors in Scotland.
Alan Maxwell will be joining as Scotland director, while Gordon Black will be taking on the position of director in Glasgow.
The firm said the appointments signalled the next chapter in the growth of its Scottish operations.
Both chartered engineers previously worked at management company CBRE UK.
In his new role, Maxwell will lead Atelier Ten’s Glasgow and Edinburgh offices.
Black will concentrate on the firm’s Scottish environmental engineering market.
