WSP appoints two executive directors

Engineering consultant WSP has announced the appointment of two executive directors.

Paul Dollin, formerly on the executive board at Atkins, is joining as UK managing director.

His role as director of Atkins’ design and engineering business will be taken on by Simon Moon, who is currently group business improvement director at the company.

Rikard Appelgren, currently managing director of WSP’s European operations, is the second board appointment.

In an interim management statement WSP said it was trading in line with the board’s expectations.

It said: “In the UK we have seen early signs of increased activity in the private sector and we wait to see if this continues.

“Our business in the UK public sector is trading steadily. However, the UK market in general remains competitive with pricing pressures, and the impending election is creating economic uncertainty.”

It said its bank debt is higher than reported at the year-end but is comfortably within its £150m committed credit line, which remains in place until 2013.

The company said its had a good start to the year in Europe, where work is mostly in public and regulated markets, and Asia and South Africa. However, trading has been quieter in Australia and it has scaled back operations in the Middle East where “trading remains difficult”.