Haden Young boss makes shock departure

The managing director of Haden Young, Balfour Beatty’s £200m-turnover M&E arm, has left the company after a row with management.

David Beck, who is understood to have been at the company for more than 40 years, made his shock exit from the firm two weeks ago.

The sudden departure has left the company without a successor.

It is understood that Mike Peasland, Balfour Beatty’s managing director, is taking interim control of the business.

The reasons for Beck’s departure were unclear as Building went to press. However, sources close to the company cited differences with group management over Haden Young’s operation.

A Balfour Beatty spokesperson said: “We can confirm that David Beck has left Haden Young. His successor will be appointed in due course. In the interim, appropriate management arrangements have been put in place”.

Haden Young is working on a number of major schemes including the £311m Pinderfields and Pontefract Hospitals PPP in West Yorkshire and the £570m University Hospital Birmingham in Edgbaston, one of the country’s largest ever PFI projects.

This week, as part of its Monteray consortium with Carillion, it won a £500m contract for telecoms carrier BT to carry out maintenance work across its 7,000 UK buildings.

The deal covers BT’s entire property portfolio, including landmark sites such as the BT Tower in central London.

The contract, which runs until 2014, could be extended for a further four years.