Winner: Andrew Davies, Kier

There were few tougher asks than taking on the top job at Kier when Andrew Davies stepped into the role two years ago – and that’s even before covid-19 hit. But Davies, who previously spent three years as the chief executive of Wates, has well and truly seen the business turn a corner. 

Since taking the top role, he has rebuilt the leadership, with recruits including new chair Matthew Lester, chief financial officer Simon Kesterton, group commercial director Stuart Togwell and construction managing director Liam Cummins. Davies also oversaw the £110m sale of Kier Living in April and the subsequent £240m equity raising, which was a resounding success, completing in nine hours – unlike the firm’s previous rights issue in late 2018, which was only taken up by a third of shareholders.

All of this saw Kier return to the black last year, despite tough market conditions as a result of the pandemic. In its latest set of results, the firm posted a £5.6m pre-tax profit in the year to June, compared with a £225m loss the previous year. Operating profit recovered from a £196m loss to a £44m profit. The firm even paid back £61m of VAT and payroll taxes deferred from 2020 because of the pandemic.

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