Another boss exits Balfour Beatty

Another senior figure has departed Balfour Beatty’s UK construction business following the firm’s £50 profit warning, Building can reveal.

Balfour Beatty confirmed that Rob Walker, executive director of the firm’s UK regional construction business, would be leaving the business.

Walker’s departure follows that of his direct boss, Steve Waite, the managing director of the regional business, who lost his job in the wake of the firm’s £50m profit warning last month.

A Balfour Beatty spokeswoman said Walker, who was Waite’s right-hand man, “had made the decision to pursue opportunities outside of the Balfour Beatty Group”.

The spokeswoman said there had been no further departures following the profit warning and review of the business.

Waite, who departed with immediate effect, was replaced by Mike Peasland – formerly chief executive of the business - after Balfour Beatty Group chief executive Andrew McNaughton seized the reins of the firm.

The news emerged as Balfour Beatty’s UK construction reported a 23% fall in revenue in the first four months of 2013.

In an update to the City the firm said the poor performance in the UK had been responsible for a 11% drop in the group’s construction revenues, when compared with the same period of 2012.

It said the UK market continued “to be adversely impacted by the shortage of major public projects and fierce competition in the regional markets”.

Balfour Beatty said the UK construction business was expected to break even in 2013.