Kier shakes up London and Southern division

Kier is splitting its London and Southern division into two and has brought in a former Morgan Sindall boss to head up its business in the capital.

The firm had merged the two businesses into one under the leadership of its former construction boss Liam Cummins, who left earlier this year to take up the top role at Italian cladding firm Permasteelisa.

But his replacement Stuart Togwell has had a rethink and a spokesperson told Building: “From 23 October, we will form Kier Construction London and Kier Construction Southern, two separate business units each with their own leader. Bringing this agility to our structure will give both regions the opportunity to thrive.”

Dave Rowsell, who was Morgan Sindall’s Northern Home Counties area director, will head up the London business with a regional director for the Southern arm not yet appointed.

Kier’s current jobs in London include a £50m mixed-use scheme for developer CO-RE in London’s West End and a £60m scheme on Tottenham Court Road for Derwent called the Network Building.

In the spring, the firm’s London and Southern boss, David McKenzie, left after two years in the role. The Australian had joined from Aecom in February 2021.

Meanwhile, the firm said Gary Wintersgill has left the firm after more than two decades at Kier and has been replaced as managing director for the North and Scotland by Sean Fenner who joined the company in 1996.

And Spencer Baber, boss of the firm’s M&E business, has had his remit expanded to include being made managing director for the division’s construction and engineering business.