Our leadership

Appointed to the Board as chief executive with effect from 15 April 2019 and is a member of the Executive Committee.

Andrew has a strong track record of business leadership across a number of sectors and significant experience of M&A and strategy development and implementation. From 2014 to 2018, Andrew was the chief executive officer of Wates Group Limited, the construction, developments and property services group. Prior to leading Wates, Andrew spent over 28 years with BAE Systems plc, undertaking a range of senior operational and corporate roles.

Andrew is also a senior independent non-executive director of Chemring Group PLC and non-executive chairman on the Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall (EKFB) JV board, which is responsible for delivering 80km of the new high speed railway, HS2. He is a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Appointed to the Board as chief financial officer Designate on 26 August 2019 and as chief financial officer on 27 September 2019, and is a member of the Executive Committee.

Simon has a broad range of financial, strategic and IT leadership experience in his former senior roles in the engineering and manufacturing industries.  He has significant experience in the implementation of cost reduction, M&A and profitability improvement programmes. From 2013 to 31 July 2019, Simon was Group finance director at RPC Group plc. Prior to this, he was chief financial officer, Europe and also chief strategic officer at IAC Group, where he worked from 2006 to 2012.  Simon is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Appointed to the Board as an executive director with effect from 1 October 2024 and is a member of the Executive Committee.

Stuart has significant strategic and operational delivery experience in the construction and development sectors. He has a strong track record of growing both public and private sector markets. Stuart is a chartered surveyor who began his career as an apprentice surveyor with Wates Group, where he worked until 2019, latterly as Group Commercial Director. He joined Kier’s Executive Committee as Group Commercial Director in 2019 and became Group Managing Director of the Construction division in December 2022.

The Construction division comprises its Regional Building businesses, which span the breadth of England, Scotland and Wales. It also encompasses Kier Places, a business which provides housing maintenance and facilities management to housing associations, local authorities and Government departments. 

Matthew Lester was appointed to the Board as non-executive chairman on 1 January 2020 and was independent on appointment. He is the chairman of the Nomination Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.

Matthew has substantial strategic and financial experience, through senior finance roles at Diageo plc, as Group finance director of ICAP plc and as chief financial officer of Royal Mail plc.

He has significant non-executive director experience from former appointments with Man Group plc, Barclays PLC and Capita plc. He is a chartered accountant.

Matthew is a non-executive director and chair of the Audit Committee of Intermediate Capital Group plc.

Appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director on 15 September 2022 and senior independent non-executive director on 1 October 2024.

Chris has experience of the construction sector through her current role as a non-executive director of Vistry Group PLC. She is also the senior independent director of C&C Group plc.

Chris has significant commercial and operational experience through senior leadership positions within the aviation industry, most recently as chief operating officer of easyJet plc, where she also separately served as their non-executive director. She served as a non-executive director of Norwegian Air Shuttle AS and as a non-executive director of Constellium SE.

Chris has a Doctorate of Science (Honorary) for Leadership in Management from the University of Ulster, a Doctorate of Science (Honorary) in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the Aviation Travel Industry from Cranfield University and a Doctorate of Science in Economics (Honorary) from the Queen’s University of Belfast. She was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to aviation.

Appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director in December 2020.

From May 2023, Alison has been a member of the Executive Leadership Team at Anglo American plc as projects & development director. She is also a director of De Beers plc (a subsidiary of Anglo American plc). Alison has significant operational experience of project development and delivery of large-scale infrastructure projects in public and private sector through her current role, previous role as chief executive officer at AWE plc and at Halcrow. She has in-depth experience of oversight of civil engineering and contracting, safety, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability matters. Alison is a Chartered Civil Engineer and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director on 5 April 2023.

Margaret has significant experience of remuneration matters through her current and former appointments as chair of Remuneration Committees and she is an experienced non-executive director.

She is currently the chair of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Risk and Compliance and Nomination Committees of AJ Bell plc. Most recently she served as the chair of the Remuneration Committee at Tandem Bank, held non-executive director positions with Phoenix Group life companies, was the chair of the Nomination and Remuneration Committees of Nucleus Financial Group plc and served as a non-executive director of One Savings Bank plc.

Margaret has broad experience in business operations, technology and large transformational change developed through senior positions across a range of different industry sectors.

Appointed to the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 1 January 2024.

Mohammed has in-depth knowledge and experience in operational delivery, engineering and infrastructure services through his previous roles in senior management and engineering positions in the water, waste and renewables sectors. He was an Executive Director at Wessex Water and Vice-Chair at Bristol University until 2022. Mohammed is Chair of Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership CIC, Chair of Bristol Future Talent Partnership CIC and is Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Somerset.

Mohammed is an Associate Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Chartered Member of the Institution of Environmental Sciences. In 2020 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of the West of England for enhancing the sustainable development of Bristol. 

Appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director on 30 March 2020.

Clive has significant experience in financial matters, through senior finance positions both in the UK and overseas, latterly as the Group finance director of Spectris plc.

Clive has experience of the engineering sector through his roles at Borealis AG and Spectris plc, and as a non-executive director of Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc. He has detailed knowledge of systems of risk management and internal control and is a chartered accountant.

Clive is currently the senior independent director and chair of the Audit Committee of Breedon Group plc, chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of discoverIE Group plc and senior independent director, chair of the Audit and Risk Committee and a Member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committees of Trifast plc.