Balfour Beatty appoints new regional construction boss

Balfour Beatty has appointed a new boss to its troubled £1.8bn turnover regional construction business.

The UK’s largest contractor today said it had appointed Mark Cutler as managing director of its regional construction and civil engineering business.

Cutler will join Balfour Beatty at the end of January 2014 and will replace Mike Peasland, who is retiring.

Cutler joins Balfour Beatty from infrastructure specialist Barhale, where he has been chief executive for the past three and a half years.

Cutler is a chartered civil engineer, is an experienced executive with a wide range of experience across the UK infrastructure market and an extensive project delivery background.

Balfour Beatty’s UK construction business posted an operating loss of £35m in the first half of the year, largely due to a £45m write down as a result of the problem contracts in the regional business.

This followed a £50m profit warning in April, when Balfour Beatty Group chief executive Andrew McNaughton seized control of the UK construction business, and former chief executive Mike Peasland stepped down to the role of managing director of the regional business, where around £38m of the £50m hit was focused.

Nick Pollard was then appointed chief executive of the business in June.

Balfour Beatty’s regional business is organized across four regional hubs in Manchester, Edinburgh London and Bristol and 17 delivery units across the UK and Ireland.

Pollard said Cutler’s “extensive experience will lead our regional business forward to enable our teams to build on established customer relationships, drive operational efficiency and increase our profitable order book”.

Mark Farrah, regional managing director North and Midlands; Neil Patterson, regional managing director, London and South East; Bill Kingwill, regional managing director South West and Murray Easton; and regional managing director Scotland and Ireland, will all report directly to Cutler.