The departure of Severfield’s chief executive and Ibstock appointing a new chair were the main people stories in construction this week.
Severfield steeled for change
Alan Dunsmore
On Wednesday (26 March), Severfield, the UK’s largest steel contractor, announced that its boss Alan Dunsmore will leave after seven years at the helm.
The news came less than a month after the publicly-listed firm announced a profit warning, leading to a sharp drop in its share price. Severfield had already seen its share price halve last November after it reported a hit from defects to HS2 bridges.
Dunsmore, who has spent 15 years in total at Severfield, will leave by “mutual consent” at the end of June, the firm said.
Severfield chairman Charlie Cornish thanked Dunsmore for his “commitment”. Dunsmore said it was the “appropriate time” to hand over to a new chief executive.
A search to find a replacement for Dunsmore has begun.
Materials giant finds new chair
Building materials giant Ibstock has appointed a former Land Securities executive as its new chair.
Richard Akers will take up the role at the Leicestershire-based firm on 5 May, it announced this week.
He is a replacement for Jonathan Nicholls, who is stepping down after seven years as Ibstock’s chair and will leave its board.
Akers spent 20 years with Land Securities in his executive career, including heading up its retail portfolio.
In a varied non-executive career since, he has spent nine years on the board at Barratt Homes and three year as chair of Redrow.
Akers stepped down from Redrow last October following Barratt’s £2.5bn acquisition of its rival.
He is also currently chair of Miller Homes after taking the role at the Edinburgh-based housebuilder in January this year.
On his appointment at Ibstock, Akers said: “I am delighted to be joining a company with strong growth ambitions at such an important time for the building industry.”
Concrete trade body looks to build with new boss
Trade body the Concrete Repair Association (CRA) has appointed a new executive officer to lead its lobbying efforts and events. Lauren Fairley, who was company secretary at the body previously, will be responsible for raising the CRA’s public profile and being a spokesperson with government and industry bodies.
Writing on LinkedIn, Fairley said she was “excited and driven to take the association to a new level”.
The CRA’s members include specialist contractors, product manufacturers and product distributors in the field of concrete repair.
Data firm aims for new chief to click
The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) has promoted one of its top team to be its new boss.
Richard Linstead
Richard Linstead will become chief executive at the data firm after two years as chief product and technology officer.
He will take the reins from James Fiske, who is moving into a newly-created role of executive director at the Harrogate-based firm.
In a varied career, Linstead has worked in the fintech, media, healthtech and retail sectors.
He said: “I’m looking forward to leading this exceptional team in evolving our existing platforms and services, while developing innovative new data products and tools to further improve the user experience and offering for our customers.”
BCIS was founded as part of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), but was spun out of the organisation in 2022 to become a standalone company.
The firm offers cost and price data for the UK construction industry.